My Life in Rosewood - Junior Year
by potterjay92
Summary: Jessie Brant is a normal teenage girl who is still trying to figure things out in Rosewood. She's a Jock that doesn't mind being friends with everyone and has problems just like anyone else. But little does she know that Junior year is going to be a bit more of a challenge than she probably expected.
1. Chapter 1

**Just a new story to entertain any Pretty Little Liars fan. Whether from the books or just the show. Most of the info is from the show or will just be made up because I haven't really read the books. I just know bits and pieces of info from the books but not much.**

**It is not in any of the characters point of view. It's a completely knew person I made up who are friends with the characters from the show/books.**

**I don't own anything taken from this series.**

**Credit to ABC Family and Sara Shepard.**

**Hope you enjoy and review.**

**PS...I appreciate feedback but if it's harsh feedback I would prefer not to hear it. Telling me if there's something wrong or something you don't like is one thing but to be mean about it is another. I got it on one of my other stories and I didn't like it. So please try to keep the negativity to yourself. Thank you!**

* * *

"Did you hear?" I roll my eyes as I hear these words.

First day of Junior year and it feels as if time has stood still from the previous year. Like nothing has changed. Because here I am again, sitting in the back of my first period English class with an earphone in one of my ears. About to hear drama cook up from the preppy girls. Is school over yet?

At this point I'm waiting for someone to notice my broken wrist, stitched up eyebrow and bruise under my eye when I missed a jump on my skateboard yesterday, just to see what story they think of to spread around school. Here in Rosewood Pennsylvania, no matter what the case, stories always end up going from the truth to a lie in a blink of an eye. Can't wait to hear what they come up with.

As I look around though I realize, of course everything has changed. We are a year and grade older than we were from the last time we were in this school. But things couldn't be more the same.

"Hear what?" Someone answers.

I try to ignore them. Honestly, can't they give it a break? At least till everyone's awake. But of course being human it's only natural to be curious about what they are going to say. So I just kept myself half busy as I looked over to see who was talking.

It was the Carrie twins with their two friends Naomi and Riley. Those four together were the second best popular group of girls in the school. Mona Vanderwaal and Hanna Marin being in front as the most popular pair. Riley and Naomi hung out with them too, so they have twice the popularity.

I looked away. Anything they had to say wasn't worth my time. They weren't nice people. Even being on the softball and basketball teams they like to remind me that I would never be one of them.

I moved from Jersey to Pennsylvania when I was around three. So the only friends I had made by the time school started was the kids who lived next door to me. Also I was shy, so I wasn't able to make many friends. But the ones I did make became targets of the twins, as well as myself as we got older. I mean, my sense of style didn't help much either. I was a short skinny girl with glasses, eventually ended up with braces and have acne. That's nerd written all over me. Eventually I started playing sports and that helped a bit. But coming up from being someone who kept to myself to someone who played sports didn't change their view of me.

The only ones who don't have a problem with me are Hanna and Mona. They went through a lot to get to the position of popularity they are now. They were below the popular people and now they are at the very top. So the fact that they talk to me at all when most of the popular kids don't like me is a miracle.

Hanna has never had a problem with me. She has her moments where she can be mean but she also has a soft spot. Mona only talked to me because of Hanna. But eventually she considered me as a friend when I saved her "precious face" from getting hit with a volleyball last year during gym. Naomi and Riley are iffy with me, but tolerate me for the sake of Mona and Hanna.

Things are different being in high school in Rosewood. I left to go back to Jersey in the middle of seventh grade because my dad's mom was sick and he wanted to be there for her. Did I hate the idea of moving? Of course. But it was my grandma so I had to go. Never thought we'd be gone for as long as we were. She died and we stuck around longer to be with the family. We got back last summer to start Sophomore year.

I forgot how normal this town has to be. Different is practically not in their vocabulary. Just being Hispanic is enough to give you a second look. When I came back though I picked up some slang words from where I was living that is considered weird here. The popular kid especially gave me looks when I slipped up as if I had two heads. Honestly, get over it.

I was just about to put my other earphone in when Stacy Carrie answers the question. "That girl who used to be part of Alison DiLaurentis's group is back."

I paused mid way from putting it in my ear "You mean her?" Her sister Maddie says.

Now this got my attention because I knew who they were talking about but I couldn't believe it to be true till I saw her. Aria Montgomery was walking into class behind Emily Fields. I was in a bit of shock as I saw my childhood best friend (next door neighbor) walking into my life for the first time in almost four years. Besides the fact I moved, her parents had picked up and moved them to Iceland three years ago. This is when her friend Alison (who was the then Queen Bee) disappeared at the end of the summer just before eighth grade was about to start. It was like their get away from all the mess. I haven't seen or talked to her for awhile.

My mouth completely drops. I see Emily smile at me as she got closer. She's on the swim team and became one of my good friends when I came back. She knows how close me and Aria were before Alison practically recruited her into the group. I mean we were so close that we called each other's parents our aunt and uncle.

She scoots out of her view so she would notice me but when I looked, Aria wasn't paying attention "Is that Hanna?" She says. Hanna was a chubby kid when they became friends. She practically ate nonstop. Before Alison got her into her group she wasn't very noticed either.

Emily looks "Oh. Yea. Her and Mona are the "it" girls now."

"Wait...that's Mona?" Emily nods. "I didn't even recognize her." Mona used to be a nerd back in the day. She had glasses and wore nerdy clothes. Queen Bee Alison used to pick on her so bad that she'd end up in the bathroom for hours.

Emily turns around and gives me a nudge on the leg as she sat down in the seat in front of me. I get up and clear my throat. "Clearly you haven't recognized me either."

She slowly turns around and her face goes from confusion to lighting up like a lightbulb in a matter of seconds. "Jessie!" She gets around the desk and almost tackles me to the floor.

I hear Emily laughing and a lot of people turned our way to look. "Whoa. Chill out." I start to laugh myself.

She let's go. "Sorry. Just took me off guard."

"Took you off guard? At least you knew you were coming back."

She laughs "Hey. You've been gone too."

I smile and nod. "Good point."

"When did you get back?"

"Last summer." I couldn't help but smile "Good to know that you still remember me."

She laughs. "Well with the way you're looking right now I'm surprised myself." I laugh a bit. "What happened?"

"She completely wiped out on her skateboard." Emily had been riding her bike next to me when it happened.

"Hey. I almost made that jump."

"Yea...but you didn't." She starts smiling.

I shrug and laugh "Close enough." I look back to Aria. "So...it's been awhile."

"Hasn't been that long." She says.

"It's been almost four years."

"Exactly. Hasn't been that long." She smiles.

I smile back "Well the last time I saw you, you had pink in your hair."

She starts to laugh then looks me up and down. "And the last time I saw you, you were shorter than me. You got taller."

I sit down. "Yes. That tends to happen when you get older." Emily laughs and I smile at her. "You've grown too."

"Now you're just lying. I've grown like two inches since the last time you saw me. You shot up like a rocket."

I start laughing "It didn't happen all at once. And give me a brake. I was a short kid." She laughs. "Besides, I'm barely more than probably an inch or two taller than you."

"Still got taller."

"Well...in my defense I'm older. So I get the rights to be taller."

She laughs. "You're like two weeks older. Don't get all wise on me." I start to smile.

She sits down and looks back at Hanna. She waves and then sees her give Emily a weird look. "You guys in a fight or something?"

"Things have changed Aria. We didn't just drift from you. We all drifted from each other." Spencer Hastings then walks in. "Not even they are close anymore." Hanna and Spencer exchange an awkward hello as she sits down at the front of the class.

Spencer's that know it all, who has to get good grades type of person. She's not exactly popular but she's one of the most known girls in school. She used to be popular though when Alison recruited her into the group with Aria, Hanna and Emily, but that's not why she's well known. The Hastings name goes a long way in this town.

She's actually one of my close friends. Our moms were part of anything that had to do with meetings for Rosewood. So we have been friends for a long time. A lot of people think just because she's a Hastings she lives up to the stereotypes of their family. It's a yes and a no.

According to others the Hastings are snobs who have to be the best at everything and think they are better than everyone else just because they are rich and have good jobs to match. That is annoying to hear because Spencer has never made herself out to be like that. Besides hoping to get the best grades, she isn't too bad. She acts as normal as a brainiac can be. As for the rest of her family. It's a bit hard to pass by the stereotypes, because they are like that.

Everyone is now starting to pile into the class and take their seats. I'm in the middle of having a conversation with Aria as I put my iPod away and the teacher walks in. When I look back over, Aria is pulling out a book. Nice to know she hasn't changed much.

When I see what it is I curse to myself cause I notice it happens to be the summer reading book. Which I just realized I didn't finish reading. I shake it off and watch as the teacher writes his name on the board. "Mr. Fitz" it said.

When he turns to his desk I tap Emily's shoulder and she turns around. "Does he look familiar to you?"

She looks back at him then nods "He's substituted a few times last year."

"Oh yea!" I say in a loud but hushed voice. She starts cracking up. I keep looking at him. "I swear I know him from somewhere else other than school though."

She shrugs. "He probably lives around town."

I nod. "Yea. Must be it."

We turn back and see him scanning the room. Then his face goes from excited to shocked, or even scared in an instant "Holy crap." He says in a low but audible tone.

Everyone starts to turn their heads to whatever he was looking at. I noticed he was staring in our directing but it wasn't at me or Emily, it was Aria. I turned to her as well and her face was just as shocked as Mr. Fitz.

We then hear him clear his throat "My name is Mr. Fitz." We all stare at him. "Some of you may already know me from substituting your classes last year. For those of you who don't, well...hello." Some people put on a smile. "I will make it clear now. I can either be the cool teacher and we can have a good school year, with minor strictness. Or I can be the bad guy and be extremely strict. This all depends on how you guys want to act in my class." He searches our faces and smiles "Now. Please take out your summer reading books." We start to. "Who actually read the book?" At first everyone starts to put their hand up and he laughs. "No...really. Who read it?" Now only less than half the class put their hands up. He nods. "That's what I thought. No problem. I think I'm going to take the first week or two to go over it for whoever didn't read it."

"Really?" Spencer says.

He smiles. "It wasn't that long ago that I was sitting in the students desk. I know how it feels." He passes out paper that has the things we need for the class and what he was going to be teaching us this year. Then he goes over to his desk, takes out his copy of the book and goes on with his lesson.

It felt like forever but finally the bell rings and we leave class. "I have Chem next. It's upstairs." Emily says. "What do you guys have?"

"Algebra Two." Aria says. "Also upstairs."

"I have Geometry on this floor." I say.

"Isn't that a Sophomore class?" Aria asks.

"Yea. But when I took my placement test in eighth grade for high school I didn't pass the Math section. So even though grading isn't the same here as in Jersey there was nothing they could do to put me back in the right classes."

"Oh." I nod. "Well that sucks."

I nod. "Math is not my thing."

"Never was." She smiles.

"Well..." Emily says. "I'll see you guys later." We both nod and smile.

She takes off and I look over at Aria. She watches me for awhile and half smiles. "So I'm gonna go."

She starts to leave and I finally get out. "What was that all about?"

"What?" She says, turning back.

I give her a look "For once in your life could you not act like you have no idea what I'm talking about." She gives me a look and I roll my eyes. "Why were you looking at Mr. Fitz like that?"

Her face goes pale. "Like what?"

"Like you guys know each other?"

She hesitates then clears her throat. "He just looked familiar."

"Yea. That's what I thought too but I didn't go looking like I had just seen a ghost."

"How have you seen him before?"

"He substituted last year. But don't change the subject."

"Jessie?" I turn around and see Arias brother Mike. He smiles and walks over. "Wow." He says as he gives me a hug.

I start laughing and we pull away. "Wow what?"

"Well first off. You look like shit."

I laugh. "Skateboarding."

He starts laughing and nods. "Only you."

I nod in agreement. "Always me."

He laughs. "You got tall."

I look at Aria who starts laughing. "Yea we just went through that." He laughs. "But so did you. What are you. Like six feet now?"

He laughs. "No. I'm five six."

"Well I got taller. But my growth spurt clearly didn't make me tall enough."

He laughs "You'll get there." He looks around. "Your brother still have it with the girls?" I half smile but it wasn't believable. "What?"

"It's kind of a long story." I say.

"What do you mean?" Aria asks.

I look at my watch. "Later. Bells about to ring." I take off without another word.

Was I hiding something from them? Oh yea. It was going to take more than a few laughs, jokes and going down memory lane to be able to slip it in there that I have been an orphan and only child since the middle of last school year. How do you tell the two people who have been like family since diapers that important people in their lives are all of a sudden gone?


	2. Chapter 2

**How did you guys like the first chapter? Let me know in a review.**

**I'll assume if you are reading this though, then you weren't too disappointed with the previous one.**

**Sara Shepard owns Pretty Little Liars.**

**Also credit to ABC Family.**

* * *

Math class came and went very quickly. I sat in the back like I always do, to find out that the only person I know in this class is Hanna Marin.

She slips into the desk next to me. "Hey."

I look at her and smile. "No Mona?"

She laughs. "Mona may be popular but you know as much as I do that she is too smart to let herself be in any class that isn't average for whatever grade she's in." I nod in agreement. "You okay?" I look at her and raise an eyebrow. "Your injuries."

"Oh. Yea. I'm fine,"

"What happened."

"Fell off my skateboard." I hesitate. "Maybe I should write it across my forehead so no one else has to ask."

She starts laughing. "That could work."

Mr. Parks sat in his chair for awhile. Watching us as we settled in. Then he walked around and past out packets of paper. "This is what we will be learning throughout the year and what I want you to bring for the class." I look at it and there was a list of supplies at the bottom of the last page. That was basically it as he let us do whatever we wanted for the rest of the class.

When it was over we walked out. "What do you have next?"

"History." I say. "You?"

"Free period."

"Already?"

She laughs. "Yea. It's pretty perfect if you think about it. Once we start having full days I'll only have two classes in between brakes." I watch her "For example. I had English and Math class. Now I'm going to have a free period. Then I'll have Chemistry and Spanish after. Lunch is basically a free period as well." I nod. "Two more classes after that, then schools out."

"Well. Aren't you lucky." She laughs. "Who do you have Chem with? I have it fourth period too."

She looks at her schedule. "Mr. Brooks."

"Me too!" She laughs. "He's also my basketball coach. So let's see how this works."

"Well that's a bummer."

I shrug. "Won't know till I get there."

History is right around the corner from my Math class. Hanna walks with me and then heads off towards the court yard to hang out. Free times are always spent there or in the cafeteria. You get to choose.

I go inside and see Aria sitting in the seat next to the windows, but more towards the middle of the row rather than the back. She sees me and waves me over with a smile.

"Look at that. Two classes together." I say, sitting in the seat behind her.

She laughs. "Seems like a record."

"Dude. Just being in the same country as each other after three years is a record."

She starts laughing and nods. "That's true."

Mrs. Gibson is our teacher for History and I can tell you right now that it is going to be a long year. She's an older teacher and I swear we each repeated ourselves a good four times before she heard us. On top of that her memory is completely shot. She couldn't even remember what she said like a minute after she said it. Also, she walks as slow as a freakin turtle. I'm not sure how they haven't made her retire yet but all I know is, we've been in class for about ten minutes and I'm ready to shoot my brains out.

She heads over to the chalkboard as slow as can be and starts to write something. My mouth hangs open as I see her hand shake and scribbles down a load of nonsense.

"Oh...my...God." I say it so slow and low that the only people who heard me was Aria and my friend Blake.

He was sitting next to Aria. So when he looks back at me he gives me this serious look, but was trying to hold in his laugh. Aria on the other hand couldn't. In an attempt to muffle hers it turned into a snort.

People are starting to turn around now. I'm trying not to look guilty but out of impulse I put my head down and dug my face into my arms to keep myself from cracking up. Blake and Aria had to turn their heads towards the window, covering the side of their faces with their hands to keep anyone from seeing them laugh.

I was glade that Aria and Blake were covering me from view, cause I was having a hard time keeping a straight face as we heard. "What's going on?" I sat up straight and everyone looked at Mrs. Gibson, but no one answered.

As she scanned the class you could see Blake's face was still bright red from laughing. Aria went into innocent mode so fast that you'd never know she was part of it. I on the other hand was having such a hard time keeping myself from laughing I started to cough.

"Do you need a drink?" I coughed some more, nodding. "Go on. Before you pass out." I got up and looked at both of them. They just started shaking their heads and smiled as I left the room.

It was hard but I managed to keep myself from cracking up till I got out of view of the room. Which by the time I got to the water fountain I realized that was stupid. Considering the fact that Mrs. Gibson could barely hear when we were right in front of her, she would most definetly not hear me from the hallway.

I couldn't believe I almost got myself into trouble on the first day of school. If it had been any other teacher I probably would have been yelled at. I didn't even mean to make it as funny as it turned out to be. Aria being Aria can never keep herself from laughing. I smile at the thought. Man have I missed her.

"Hey dweeb." I stand straight from taking a drink and look to the side.

"Really? Gonna start with me already?" Amber Stacy. She's the cousin of Riley and I'll tell you, she's somehow a more pain in my ass than Riley could be.

Since we were kids she's been a troublemaker. She's gotten me into some deep shit a few times. I saw her set the garbage in the bathroom on fire just before I moved. She blamed it on me of course. I almost got expelled for it cause she has an uncle who's a teacher there and he believes everything she says. She's a suck up and had him wrapped around her thumb.

She's practically a bully. That's all she does. I mean she went through the same thing herself. Now she just picks on others cause it makes her feel better. Kinda understandable I guess. But then she gets people in trouble for things they do because of her or for things she did but blames on them. Which is so messed up.

She started once with Spencer last year and then gave me a black eye for opening my mouth. Was hard to explain to mom what happened without her trying to fix the problem for me. I didn't want anyone thinking I was a baby for tattling. You know how it can be in school.

I honestly couldn't tell you who's worse though. Riley, for being the popular girl who brings people down because you're under her labeled status. Or Amber, for being the school bully just because she got picked on. I mean, you would probably say right off the bat Riley. Because being popular is no reason to be mean to people. I agree, but at least she doesn't go around beating you up.

She smiles. "Scared?"

I laugh. "Have I ever been?"

She stares at me. "I hear that your Goth friend is back."

My eyes narrow in on her. "She's not Goth. She's artistic. So leave her alone and stop spreading rumors."

She laughs. "Artistic? Is that what they call it?"

"Will you stop being a prick?" She gives me a confused look. This is what I mean about words I picked up from Jersey. No one understands what I'm saying.

She quickly shakes it off and says. "Will you speak English? I don't understand loser talk."

"How about this." She watches me. "Fuck off. Is that plain enough for someone with a small sized brain?" My heart skipped a beat as I said it. That was not something I should have said. She could break my face if she wanted to.

She gets closer. I was ready for the hit. But all she says is. "You still owe me a fight."

I kinda did something to piss her off last year. And now she wants to kick my ass. I embarrassed the shit out her twin brother Tommy when I found out that he had a crush on one of the girls on the varsity basketball team. She was a Senior, so it was gonna be hard for a Sophomore to get her to go out with them. Naturally he's just as much of an ass as Amber is and I was sick of him picking on poor Lucas. I mean, he's a bit dorky but he's a cool kid. I've known him for a good amount of time for it to piss me off.

I told Tommy a tad lie of her maybe possibly liking him back and he tried to take it to the next level. It was the funniest thing to watch. He went up to her in the middle of lunch and tried to have a conversation. They were on talking terms cause he's on the football team. But she never liked his attitude or how he treats people. She was one of the decent cool kids who will be nice to everyone.

So anyway. He's sitting with her at the table in front of me with her friends and it went from normal to awkward in no time. A girl walked over to their table and sat next to her. They both smiled at each other, she introduced her to him and then she kissed her full on the mouth.

When I saw this I had spit out my soda right across the table. Just missing my friend Luna (triplet of brothers Blake and Kyle). Em started cracking up from my reaction and I couldn't help but laugh at what I just saw. Did I know she was gay? No. We weren't that close for me to know this info but I had no regrets as I saw his face. It was priceless. He recovered his shock and kept as much of a straight face as possible before he got up and left.

Amber cornered me on the way home from school that day. But luckily Em was with me so she didn't do much. All she did was yell and said she wanted to fight me. I never said I would but she won't let it go now.

I watched her for a bit and shook my head. "Not sure if you noticed, but I'm out of commission." Gesturing to my broken wrist. "And if I wasn't. Not a chance."

"Tough." She watches me for a second, her fists were clenched. "You hurt him. You know that?"

I kept my eyes on her. She's taller and bigger so I would be down in no time. "Oh boohoo. Poor Tommy." She gives me a mean look. "I'm sure he didn't care when he was giving others black eyes just for looking at him the wrong way."

"That's not my problem."

"Well...neither is this."

"If you wanna keep your legs you will."

"Amber. Do me a favor and go fuck yourself." I then walk away and head back to History.


	3. Chapter 3

**By this point I'm going to assume people are still keeping up with this story. Even if not then it's all good. Just going to keep myself busy by continuing anyways.**

**Credit to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.**

**I do not own PLL.**

**PS. This chapter is a tad bit shorter than the last two. Starting to have writers block and not able to get as much into the chapters as I usually do.**

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I didn't bother telling anyone what happened in the hall. When Mrs. Gibson asked why I took so long I told her I had to use the bathroom. She didn't say anything more than "Go take your seat." And went back to whatever she was talking about. Aria gave me a smile as I walked passed her. I could tell she was still thinking about what happened. She has a hard time letting things go sometimes and I had to do my best not to laugh again.

When class is over we head to the hall. Blake sees his brother, says goodbye and runs after him. We end up by my locker and I lean up against it. "Can someone kill me now?"

Aria smiles. "Interesting class huh?"

"Dude...I'm pretty sure I know more about her cat than I do about History."

She starts cracking up. "I'm surprised you remember anything. You kept falling asleep."

I put a goofy smile. "Shh."

She laughs. "And since when do you say dude? I heard you say it earlier but didn't realize it became part of your vocabulary."

I start turning red. "Well...it seems a lot of people don't appreciate my new vocabulary."

She gives me a look. "What?"

"People are giving me beef about things I say since I got back."

She smiles. "Like the fact that you said beef to substitute another word?"

"Shit!"

She laughs. "It's no big deal Jessie."

"It is when they don't leave me alone about it. You know how this town is about being different."

She nods. "I remember."

"The only people who got used to it are whoever hang around me. Everyone else thinks I'm nuts."

"Don't worry about it. You're you. That's all that matters."

I smile. "Thanks."

She nods. "So...what did you mean by giving you beef?"

I smile and start laughing. "It's like saying that they won't let it go. Or won't leave me alone about it. You know?"

She nods. "Yea." She watches the hall. "This is your locker?" I nod. "You know mine is over there." She points to the next set of lockers closest to where we were standing.

"Really?"

She nods. "It's the top corner one closest to yours."

"Sweet." She smiles. "Em's is this one." I tap the one right next to mine. "Spencer's is across the hall, more towards the end." I point in that direct. "And Hanna's is on this side farther down." I point again.

"That's cool."

I nod. "That it is." She laughs and we start walking. "What class do you have next?"

"Chemistry."

"Me too." I smile.

"Mr. Brooks?" I nod and she smiles. "Can I see your schedule?" I hand it over. "Jessie." I look at her. "We have every class except second period together."

"Seriously?" I grab both schedules out of her hands and look at them. "This year is going to be great."

She smiles. "Couldn't agree more."

I was happy that since we have every class together from here on that we didn't have to worry about walking alone. We get to the top floor and head inside, grabbing seats at a lab table in the back by the window. Hanna walks in not to long later and takes the table next of us. She smiles at us but that was about it as she started texting.

That reminded me that someone was trying to call me during second period. I take out my phone and see that my Aunt Katie had called. My heart sank. I haven't talked to her since she came to see me after the accident that killed my family. She was one of the people my parents put to take care of me on the Will. The first were the Montgomery's. But obviously they weren't around and I didn't want to go back to Jersey. We got into a huge argument about it. But Spencer's parents are Lawyers and helped me out. I'm not sure on all the laws and stuff but whatever they did was enough for me to stay with them. I am still currently living there.

"So how's your day going?" Aria asks.

I look at her. "What?" Her calling me had taken me off guard.

"You okay?"

I thought for a minute. I know I should tell her but it's not the right time. "Yea. I'm good. Sorry, I was just checking my phone. What were you saying?"

She gives me a look. "How's your day?" She says in a tone that made me know she was suspicious.

I shrug. "It's school. How else could it go?"

She laughs. "True."

"How's yours?" I say quickly before she asked me anything about my weird behavior.

"Hectic."

"Rosewood will do that. Not to mention that you've been gone for three years."

"How did you handle leaving and coming back years later?"

"As well as I could." I say. "I just acted like myself. Made new friends and did my best when it came to my grades. Not much else you can do."

She nods and smiles. "Good advice."

"Well...I try." She laughs.

Not to long later Mr. Brooks walks in. "There will be no wand waving or silly incantations in my classroom!"

Most people looked at him like he was nuts. He's a young teacher in his early twenties. So he's always pretty hyper active. I'm used to his crazy side since I had been around him all season for basketball. I look over at Aria and saw her smiling. We then start cracking up.

"Ah. Potterheads." People start to giggle as he walks over. "Jessie!"

I smile. "Hey coach."

"How wonderful." He says. "Basketball star and a Harry Potter geek. Couldn't be more proud."

I laugh. "Nice to see you...Professor."

His eyes light up. "Yes! Amazing response!" He puts up his hand and I high five him. "Ten points to Gryffindor!" He yells as he walks away from us. I just started laughing. It was too much awesomeness to let it go.

"So that's your coach." Aria says, wiping the tears from her eyes.

I nod and take a breath. "Yea. He's awesome."

"Clearly."

I laugh. "I didn't expect that though. I thought he was gonna be strict as a teacher."

"People surprise you."

I nod. "Agreed."

He was sitting on the edge of his desk. Arms crossed, scanning the room. "Jessie." I look over. "What is the function...of a rubber duck?" He has a serious yet goofy look.

"I don't know sir." I say, trying not to laugh.

"Clearly fame isn't everything." He said this in a perfect impression of Snape.

"I'm sure if Hermione was here she would know."

"Ten points to Gryffindor!" I start laughing. "Okay. On a more serious note. Who actually knows the function of a rubber duck?" Me and Aria try to muffle a laugh. "Just kidding. How was everyone's summer?"

By the end of the class he had everyone in a great mood, myself included. "Will you be able to try out for the team?" He asked before I left.

"Hopefully." I look at my cast.

"Well it should be happening by the end of October. Get yourself ready."

I nod. "Yes coach."

He smiles. "Off you go."

We have free period next. We go off to the court yard. "Can I barrow your iPod?" She says when we sit down. I look at her. "I forgot mine at home." I go into my back pack and pull it out. "Thanks." I smile and nod.

I watch her for a bit, then go back into my backpack and pull out a sketch pad.

She was so into reading her book and listening to music that she didn't even realize that I was drawing her. I hadn't drawn anything since the accident. Was never in the mood or had the inspiration. I guess her being back in my life changed that.

"Whatcha think?"

She looks up and her mouth drops. "Jessie."

I half smile. "Sorry. Was an impulse."

She shakes her head. "No. Don't be sorry. That's really good." She grabs it from me. "You've gotten better since the last time I saw you."

"Practice makes perfect."

She nods. "That it does."


	4. Chapter 4

**Things are going as well as Jessie could hope for the first day of school, until Aria gets a text.**

**ABC Family and Sara Shepard own Pretty Little Liars.**

**I do not take credit.**

* * *

Sixth period would be next but there's no lunch today due to that it's on the half day schedule. So that means seventh is next, we have art. Not much really happened. The teacher said a few things then had us draw whatever we felt like so she could get a glimpse of what we could and couldn't do. Then the bell rang and we head off to Gym.

I was feeling a bit exhausted by now so I was gratefully that we didn't do anything for gym today. Last year the first few days of school we didn't do anything. No one has their gym clothes, so what's the point of starting? Even if we were I can't play till this stupid cast is off. I mean it's fine. I don't have to worry about my grade for now, so it's all good.

"Hey Jessie." I look and see my Softball coach, Miss Marks. "Heard you're out of commission."

I nod. "Yea. No Gym for awhile."

"Well...don't get yourself all banged up before Softball."

I laugh. "No worries." She scratches her face and I see a ring. "Did you get engaged?"

She looks at it and her face turns red. "Yea."

"Who's the lucky man?" I say with a smile.

She takes a minute. "You know the Math teacher, Mr. Stuart?"

My mouth drops. "Jake? You're engaged to Jake Stuart?" I look at Aria who's face drops too.

Miss Marks gives me a look. "Is there a reason why you are on a first name basis with him?"

"Because I grew up with him. Our dad's worked together as Rosewood cops." I hesitate for a second. "And he worked at my dad's Sports Store during high school." I sneak a peek at Aria, who thankfully didn't notice my hesitation about mentioning my dad. "He also babysat me and my brother." I add quickly.

"Awww."

I start turning red. "Yea." I shy away a bit. "Well...congratulations."

She smiles. "Thanks Jessie." I nod. "So. You two with me?" We nod. "Okay. Everyone in my class are sitting up on the top left of the bleachers." She points over to our right and there are groups of kids from Freshmen to Seniors gathered on the benches.

We walk over and start climbing up. Hanna was hanging at the bottom benches for Miss Marks class with a few friends. I smiled at her and kept going. We planned to sit all the way at the top, because I saw Em. But before we got there I felt a hand grab mine. Took me by surprise and flinched a bit. I was on my guard from Amber so I was about ready to punch whoever it was.

"Chill babe. It's just me."

I look over and smile. "Andrew!" Before I could react more he pulls me down and I land on his legs.

Andrew Campbell. What can I say about him? Well, he is basically a guy version of Spencer. He's not as crazy about his grades though. But he is extremely smart. We met during school last year. I was having a hard time with Math and Spencer told me she had someone in mind who could help. Naturally, I asked why she couldn't do it herself. She told me that he was crushing on me. Of course my reaction was "How does he have a crush on me if I don't know who he is?" Apparently we had Gym together but he never came up to me because I was usually around Hanna and Mona. He would also see me when I was hanging with Spencer, but was always too shy to do anything.

Spencer said that I needed to start dating again, but I wasn't really up to it. Dating a brainiac? I didn't need the pressure of feeling like a dumbass around him. But once I saw him, forget it. The world had literally slowed down when I laid eyes on him. He's tall with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and wears glasses (sometimes). He was one of the cutest guys I have ever set eyes on. Bonus? He's muscular. Like when does that happen? A nerdy guy being cute and buff? Like rarely ever! He asked me out a bit after school ended. We've been dating for almost three months. I owe Spencer for getting me back into dating. Because after my last boyfriend I thought I'd never do this again.

He kisses me and it feels like the world just melts away. Like it's just us two here. When I'm with him all my problems disappear. "Nice to know you remember who your boyfriend is." He says when we pull away.

I laugh. "I'm sorry. I've been busy."

"No apologies necessary. Just good to see you." He kisses me on the cheek then lets me go. "Sit here?" There were spots in front of him and next to him.

I smile. "This is Aria." I take the seat in front of him. There's space between the benches where there is the floor then another bench. So I sat back on the floor in between his legs and had my legs hanging from the bench. Aria sits next to my legs. "Hey Spence." Spencer was sitting on the same bench as Aria but a bit farther down from us. There was no one in between us though. "Come here!" I say in a whiny babyish voice. She just laughs and starts to scoot closer.

"What's going on?" She says.

At the same time Aria had said. "You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

I look at them, not understanding a word either them had said. "What?" I half laugh.

They both laugh. "Her first." Spencer says.

She smiles. "I said. You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend."

He looks down at me. "Nice conversation maker."

I laugh. "My bad. I was a bit overwhelmed with the fact that you're back in Rosewood."

She nods. "Understandable." Her phone rings and she looks at it.

Andrew kisses the top of my head and I smile up at him. He locks his fingers between mine. "How's your day?"

I shrug. "Not to bad. My Science teacher is a Potterhead."

Spencer looks at me. "Mr Brooks right?" I nod. "Did he walk in saying a line from the movie?"

I laugh. "Yea. We had a conversation in Harry Potter references."

She laughs. "We have him too." She gestures to her and Andrew. "It was funny."

I go to answer "Jessie?" Aria says.

I look at her. "Yea?" Her face seemed mixed between mad and teary.

"Look at this conversation I'm having with mom."

She hands me her phone. "Have you seen Jessie?" Her mom put.

"Yea. Why?" She answers.

"Has she mention anything about an accident?" My heart sank.

"Accident? What accident?" She wrote.

"Maybe you should talk to her about it."

"No. Mom, tell me."

"Your Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Joey and Jeff died in a car accident last school year."

"What..."

"Talk to Jessie okay? We don't know anymore details. And see where she is living, 'cause their house has new owners. That's how we found out."

My mouth was hanging open when I look up "Why didn't you tell me?" She says.

My eyes started to water. "Aria I..."

"Your family...MY family is dead and you didn't bother telling me?" She was trying her best not to raise her voice, but that didn't work out. People were starting to stare.

Spencer had stopped reading her book and looked up. "They weren't your family Aria." I say angrily. I felt Andrew squeeze my hand.

Her face goes a bit pale. "Maybe not blood but I've known them almost my whole life. They are as good as my family."

I get up. "I'm sorry okay?" Tears started to slide down my face. "I haven't been able to talk about it. How was I going to tell you?"

I grabbed my backpack and attempted to hop over her legs, but she grabs my arm. "Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Just...sit down. I'm sorry."

I shake my head. "I can't. I need to get out of here."

I look around. Emily caught my eyes and mouthed. "What's wrong?"

"I'll go with you." Aria says.

I shake my head. "No. Stay. I can't handle this right now." My chest was starting to hurt and my breathing was getting scarily shorter with every breath I took.

"Jessie?" She says.

Spencer sits me down. "Relax. Take deep breaths."

Andrew grabs my hand and Spencer rubs my back to help me calm down. Aria looked a bit worried and then Emily came into view. "What's going on?"

"She's having a panic attack." Spencer says.

"Jessie. I'm sorry." Aria says.

"No." I shake my head and take a breath. "I am."


	5. Chapter 5

**It's the end of the school day and things get a little interesting. Jessie is told something that she did not see coming.**

**PLL belongs to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.**

**I do not own or take credit for it.**

* * *

After school I was standing up against my locker as Em put her stuff away. "You okay?" I turned to her. I didn't realize how dazed out and distracted I probably looked right now.

"Fine." I look behind her, Aria was at her locker.

"You gonna go to her house?"

"Yea. I owe it to them to explain everything. But I have to help Spence with something first."

After my little episode I apologized to Aria for being mean to her and promised that I would tell her everything. She also said she was sorry for yelling at me, then asked to go over after school. I told her I would after I helped Spencer with a favor. I didn't tell her that I lived with her yet. That would come as part of the explaining when I get to her house.

"Ready?" Spencer walks over.

I nod. "Yea."

I turn to say goodbye to Em when Mr. Fitz walks out of his classroom. He catches sight of me and walks over. "Jessie right?"

I look at the girls then him. "Uh. Yea."

His eyes soften a bit. "You don't remember me do you?"

"You subbed my classes a few times."

He half smiles. "Well yes...but that's not what I meant."

"I..."

"Jessie. I..." He hesitates and it was making me feel awkward, yet scared at the same time.

I just watched him. What could he possibly have to say that was making him so choked up? Where else could I have seen him besides in a classroom? I kept staring over at the girls and they just gave me the "what is going on?" look. He really seemed to be struggling to get it out.

Finally he clears his throat. "I was the one who pulled you out of your car." My heart skips a beat and my mouth completely drops. I feel myself starting to fall and he jerks forward, wrapping one of his hands around my good wrist while the other grabs above my cast to hold me up. Someone else caught me from behind at the same time. They helped me stand straight and I just stared at Mr. Fitz.

All of a sudden my mind is going through the day of the accident as if I was watching a movie. The whole memory was in slow motion. We were leaving Rosewood to visit family in Jersey for the weekend when a dog ran in front of our car. Dad swerved out of the way and he lost control because of all the water on the street from the downpour we had not to long before. The car turned and flipped multiple times before it finally stopped. When I looked I realized I was upside down. Then I felt pain from my head. I put my hand on my head and flinched, blood was all over as I pulled it away. I look next to me and see Jeff unconscious. I couldn't believe what just happened.

Everything was now starting to get blurry as I tried to get myself out of my seatbelt. I could see feet outside our car now, then a blurry figure comes into view. The person gets on their hands and knees and asked me if I was okay. My vision was in and out of focus as I tried to see who it was. A man was staring back at me. He looked familiar but I couldn't put a name to the face. I then feel a jerk when he pulled opened the door and arms wrap around me as he tempted to pull me out. I screamed in pain, my leg felt like it was about to rip off. He told me to relax as much as I could, that I was going to be okay. Then he started to have a conversation with me, asking me my name, how old I was. Basically trying to keep me calm and not focused on anything else. The last thing I remember was him carrying me to the sidewalk and holding me tight as the car exploded.

"Jessie?" My eyes slowly meet his. He was tall so he had to bend a bit so we were at eye level.

I noticed he was still holding onto my wrist. "You..." I took a deep breath. My head was starting to ache and I was getting a bit dizzy. "You saved me?"

He looked at me with a sympathetic expression and nods. "I did."

My mouth was still half hanging open as I tried to process what he just told me. I looked to the side and noticed that Aria was now standing with us. She looked so upset. They all did and I couldn't blame them. I was just as confused and upset as them.

"You don't remember at all?" He says.

I nod. "I do. I just...my vision wasn't very reliable by the time you got to me. The doctors said I had an concussion."

"What's the last thing you remember?" He asks.

"You protecting me from the explosion. Then being in the hospital." He nods. "What happened between those points?" He thinks for awhile. If you could look inside his brain I'm sure you could see the wheels turning.

After a bit of silence he starts to tell the rest of what I couldn't remember. How when he pulled away after the explosion he saw that I was in shock. So much that he couldn't get me to talk. Which he completely got 'cause I had just witnessed my family dying right in front of my eyes. So he just sat with me till the ambulance got there. They took me away, police asked him a few questions then he left.

"I tried to see you." His eyes shift around a bit. "But I wasn't family. So they didn't let me in." I was now trying to control my breathing. "I'm sorry for what you went through. For not being able to save the rest of your family. And..." His eyes were a bit watery. "For not keeping in touch."

I didn't know what to say. I had so much emotions and thoughts going through me that I just didn't know what to say. So I watched him for a bit, trying to figure it out. Then I did the only thing I could think of that would sum up how grateful I was...I gave him a hug.

I felt him tense up for a second, then he wrapped his arms around me. I had a lump in my throat as I felt myself about to cry. "Thank you." I got out in between a sob that I quickly covered up.

"You're welcome." He pulls away and looks down at me. "You ever need anything. Let me know. Okay?" I nod and he smiles. "I'll see you girls tomorrow. I got to go." He turns around and walks off.

I couldn't even begin to figure out what just happened. How did I not recognize his voice. How could I not tell it was him when he walked into class this morning? This entire day has just been one surprise right after the other. What the hell is going on?

* * *

**Anything thoughts so far? Let me know in a review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**PLL belongs to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.**

**I do not take credit.**

* * *

I looked out the window of Spencer's car as we were passing by Rosewood Day Elementary School. Next to it is the park mom used to take me and Jeff when we were little. There's the slide that cracked his head open when he decided to run down it rather than slide down. I couldn't help but smile a bit at all the memories we had here. Then I shook it off as I remembered I could never have those types of memories again.

I sit there in silence as my mind is swimming with thoughts. It was just too much for me to keep to myself, but yet I can't get myself to talk about them. I'm not sure how I'm going to explain all of this to the Montgomerys. Especially the Mr. Fitz part. I still can't even grasp what I found out. I mean I was there but hearing it from him made me realize I didn't make the whole thing up. I thought for the longest time that maybe I imagined it, that no one actually helped me. That I probably just got out on my own but that's not the case. It did happen.

I thought for awhile and came to the conclusion that Aria was right to be upset with me. I should have told them when it happened, but it was tough with them being on the other side of the world. I mean yea, we have Facebook and Emailing, that could have been a simple and easy way to tell her. But it didn't seem right to do that and have her so far away, probably wishing she was here. Plus I was always in a bad mood and taking my anger out on everyone 'cause I wasn't able to talk about it. She needs to understand that I went through hell the first month trying to process what happened. I couldn't do two things at the same time. Then once it sank in I wasn't the same person. I'm still not really the same person she grew up with and I don't know how she'll handle it.

The days before the accident I was a bubbly and happy person who tried to have fun and did my best not to let people bring me down. I was still shy and if someone bothered me, others would almost always intervene. Now...now I'm the opposite. Yea I can still be happy and shy at times but now I let my emotions get the better of me. Whether if it's me being sad to the point where I wont talk to anyone and locking myself somewhere to be alone. Or snapping at someone for no reason and sometimes getting into arguments with friends. I even almost got into a fist fight with Amber just because she happened to be around. Aria will most definetly not appreciate that side of me.

"Hey." I look over at Spencer. She was watching me with sad eyes. I knew what this usually meant. "Talk to me."

I look back out the window. "I don't know what to say."

"Say anything. Don't keep things to yourself. You know where that gets you."

I flash back to a day not to long after I finally processed what happened. I had made it my goal not to get anyone involved with my emotions. To not let people see me break down. I had gone almost all week without speaking to anyone. But they all gave me space as I tended to go on my own and keep to myself. One day I was in what was now my room (used to be Spencer's sister Melissa's room) sitting on a chair, just watching the backyard. Mrs. Hastings was filling up parts of the yard with flowers and it sent me into a memory.

When I was younger mom used to do the same thing. I would sit up in my room and watch her from the window. Then when I got bored I sprayed her with water from a water gun. She would warn me to stop, then raced up the stairs when I didn't and looked for me as I hid from her. When she'd find me she would tickle me till I couldn't breathe.

As that filled my brain that day I had started to cry. Spencer was walking passed the room not too long later and looked inside when she heard me. When she saw me curled up in a corner she walked over, wrapped her arms around me and I cried till I couldn't no more. She made me promise to always clear my mind so that I wouldn't get like this again.

I watch her for a bit as I came back from that thought. "I know Spence. I just honestly don't know what to say right now. It was one thing trying to process when it happened but to start all over again after so much time of keeping myself from thinking about it? I don't know if I can."

"You have to try Jessie." She hesitates. "I know talking about that with Fitz was probably weird but the Montgomerys are like family to you. You can't act like nothing's going on just 'cause you can't handle it. Imagine how they feel finding out months later that people they used to see everyday is no longer around?"

That kind of made me feel worse for not saying anything. I could feel my stomach turning as I imagined myself in their shoes. If it had been me finding out that Aunt Ella, Uncle Byron and Mike died in a car accident and Aria didn't tell me, I would have been extremely mad at her. Which I completely get her impulse to yell and be upset with me during Gym.

"I'll do my best." I finally get out. She puts a slight smile as we pull up to her house.

It's still weird to call this my home now. I feel like I'm invading their space. I wasn't this type of person who grew up with money. So I don't really feel like me anymore. Mostly because people think since I live here that makes me part of the Hastings family. It doesn't feel right to be known as rich now, because I'm not their child. I'm just a guest staying here till I'm either able to get my own place or till I'm legally an adult. But it's Rosewood. Everyone takes things too far, but what's done is done. Would just be better if Amber and her family stuck with that in their head. Would make my life so much easier rather than feeling like I'm going to get into a fight at any moment I run into them.

"Melissa arrived today right?"

She nods. "With her fiancé."

I half laugh. "Sorry, but it's weird to think of your sister settling down."

"That makes two of us."

We walk through the kitchen and look out the back door. Melissa and who I can only assume is her boyfriend are heading into the barn. Spencer took the summer to renovate the barn and turned it into a loft. She had made a deal with her parents that if she got good grades and made the effort to do what had to be done that they would let her move in for Junior year. I felt bad when she offered to split it with me. She didn't want me having to stay in the house by myself. Plus she thought it would be cool having a roommate.

When we got outside Melissa walks out. She has a smile. "Wow Spence. You really did it." She walks towards us. "When mom and dad told me you were making it into a loft I couldn't see it. But it turned out great."

"Thanks." She says with a smile.

She looks at me. "Hello Jessie."

"Hey."

"I'm sorry to hear about your family. I'm a bit late but I'm glad mom and dad were kind enough to let you stay here."

I half smile. "I couldn't be more grateful to have your family invite me in."

She gives me a look that confuses me for a minute. "You get in a fight or something?"

I half laugh. "Oh." I shake my head. "No. I had a bit of a incident while on my skateboard."

She nods, "Oh. I see." I nod. "Oh by the way." She looks at Spencer. "It was really nice of you to let us take the barn."

Spencer gives her a confused look. "What?"

"Mom and dad said that we could have the loft till my place in the city was done with renovations." By the look I gave Spencer and the look that she was giving her, Melissa knew right away what was coming.

They were having a pretty heated argument about the whole thing. I mean it's understandable. Her parents did promise the barn to her if she took the time to make it into a living space. But as usual things didn't go her way.

Something from behind Melissa catches my eye. I look and see her boyfriend walking out. He smiles as he gets to us and says. "Hi. I'm Wren."

I start to smile. "You're British."

"Am I?" He looks at Melissa who starts laughing. "Never would have known." He jokes.

I start turning red. "Sorry."

Spencer didn't wait to see how this conversation would turn out. She was pretty ticked off about her loft being given to her sister. Which is no surprise to me 'cause it seems that Melissa gets her way quite often. Her parents almost always side with her on things and in my opinion, it's not fair.

I look over as she walks away. "Spencer!" I call out. I turn back. "Uh. See you later. And nice to meet you." I take off after Spencer as she rushes inside the house.

I followed her upstairs and tried to talk to her. Of course being Spencer she doesn't usually listen. So after a bit of her yelling and taking out her anger about her parents giving away the loft, we hung around in her room and just talked. Turns out Spencer didn't want me to stick around for dinner after all. The favor was to keep her company while she met Melissa's fiancé, which I did. But I was also supposed to stay for dinner. However, since the Montomgerys are back we both agreed that I should probably have dinner with them. It was the least I could do after leaving them in the dark about what happened since February. Plus it would be a good way to catch up.

In the middle of getting ready to go out Mrs. Hastings walked in and told me that Spencer let her know that I wasn't staying. I was thankful to hear that she was not upset about the whole thing. She just wanted to make sure I was okay and how I was feeling about them being back.

"I love that they are back." I tell her. "I've been waiting for this moment since I moved back here."

"But?" She says.

I watch her for a minute. "But...it's not how I imagined it."

"It's not really the most thrilling way to come back and finding out your best friends are gone."

I nod. "Yea...I didn't really think it through."

"It's understandable Jessie."

"Aria hates me for it."

"And she will get over it. She's just emotional right now."

Mr. Hasting walks in. "Do you need a ride Jessie?"

I shake my head. "No. I'll take my car." I smile. "Thanks though." He gives me a look and I know what he's thinking. He doesn't like the idea that I'm driving with a broken wrist. But he just nods and walks off.

I understand the protection they both have towards me. It's been like this since I moved in, even before then. I'm a kid who went through a horrible situation and have to rely on them for things now. We are all still getting used to this new life. It scares me just as much as them to know that they practically adopted me and now have to be responsible for me as if I am part of the family. I just wish they would remember that I'm not their kid. I don't want to be protected as if I am. I just want them to be there if needed, not as if they have to be.

About a half hour or so later I pull up to the Montgomery's house. It was weird being on this part of the block again. I hadn't been here since I moved out. I look next door and there it was, my house. It hasn't changed at all. I mean a completely new family lives there now, but it's the same house I grew up in.

I tried my best not to think too much as I attempted to get out of my car, but it didn't work. As soon as I got up my stomach started to hurt and I felt like I was about to throw up. I sat back in my car, closed the door and stared at the Montgomery house. "I don't know if I can do this."


	7. Chapter 7

**I do not own PLL.**

**Belongs to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.**

* * *

I sat in my car longer than intended. I let Aria know awhile ago that I was on my way, but here I am trying to find the courage to go to their door. The guilt of not telling them was pounding in the back of my head. The sight of seeing my old house hurt my heart and I couldn't handle it.

During times like this I would usually go to my room and climb out my window so I could sit on the roof of the garage. That was my escape spot, it always helped me think. During the night I would stare at the stars for comfort. Sometimes counting them till I fell asleep. Dad almost always found me hanging out there and he would just put me to bed. Other times Mike would see me from his window and drag a chair up to it. Then he'd talk to me till I felt better. We would practically talk each other to death.

A tear rolled down my cheek. Then a knock came from the passenger window, scaring me half to death. I jumped so bad that I hit my knee on the steering wheel. "Mother..." I hear someone laughing and turn to look. Aria is standing there with a smile and points for me to unlock the door.

I do and as she's getting in I wipe the tears out of my eyes before she could see. "Sorry." She's says when she closes the door. "Didn't mean to scare you."

I rub my knee. It was throbbing so bad I could feel my leg going numb. "No problem."

"You've been out here for awhile." I look at her. "The bush in front of the house doesn't block you from the window you know."

"Right."

She looks at me in concern. "Wanna talk?"

I shake my head. "Not really."

I look out the windshield. Further down the street there is a crosswalk, then another block starts. Andrew lives around the corner from that crosswalk. We hung out all the time once we became friends. In the beginning it was just to help with homework, then it became a habit. Or more like a reason to hang out. Everyday it was the same. We would go to school, then after he'd walk me home. If he had nothing to do we'd sit on the porch and do homework. Then as we got more comfortable it went from homework to just talking. Then it went from that to playing basketball. We had a hoop attached to the top of the garage and as unfair as it always seemed that he was taller, I still managed to beat him. Yes, I'll agree he most likely let me win because he's a nice guy and I'm tiny but I had something to do with too. I do play basketball after all.

I still pass by once in awhile, but it's not the same. He has family problems and doesn't like when people come over. Most of the time we don't even stay there. Sometimes we'll chill in front on the porch, but other times we end up walking to the park. When his parents argue it gets to the point where you can hear them yelling at each other from outside. I respect that he rather not have me around that type of situation. I just wish there was a way to help.

"Something interesting about the street?"

I look back. "What?"

"What are you looking at?" She asks.

"Oh. Nothing. Just thinking."

"Care to share?"

"Just remembering the fun I used to have here." She watches me. "Andrew lives around the corner. He used to come over a lot."

She smiles a bit. "Is he treating you right?"

I smile and nod. "More than you could imagine. He's prefect. I couldn't ask for a better boyfriend."

She laughs. "You're glowing. This must be serious."

I could feel myself turning red. "It is."

She smiles. "I used to see how you were around Noel Kahn. That was nothing compared to this."

Noel Kahn. He's like the most popular guy in our grade. Everyone wants to date him. He has an older brother in college who was in the same position as Noel when he went to Rosewood High. You'd be lucky to be friends with a Kahn brother. His family is like the Hastings. Rich as can be, making their name go a long way in this town. Him and his brother are the ones to be friends with if you want any type of popularity here. It's literally like snapping their fingers gets them whatever they want. You get invited to a Kahn party that usually means you are worth their time. Makes you automatically known. Well, that is if anyone notices you are there. I've been invited to his parties. I don't always go but that doesn't stop him from continuing to ask. I must be doing something right if he talks to me enough to consider me a friend.

I shy away. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh please. If he asked you out you wouldn't have hesitated."

"Okay first off. Anyone would be lucky if he asked them out." She laughs. "And two. He barely even knew I existed back then."

"That's bull." I looked at her. A bit stunned. "He noticed you plenty. You just never realized it."

"Well maybe that's because I knew you liked him. I was trying not to be a bad friend."

"You could never be a bad friend." She smiles a bit. "But you still drooled when you saw him."

I start laughing. "Hey. Look who's talking."

She starts blushing. "Well. We are both over him."

I nod. "Yes I am." Then I add quickly. "But he's single, so you could try."

She cracks up. "That's a joke."

"Oh come on. Don't doubt yourself."

"Jessie. I was a loser who had pink in my hair because I couldn't figure out who I was."

"You are Aria Montgomery." She gives me a look that made me know she thought I was being a smart ass. But I continued with. "You like to write, amazingly. You're also very artistic. Can give me a run for my money that's for sure." She laughs. "No, you are not a loser. You are the my best friend. And the greatest one I could ever ask for." She starts to smile. "Putting pink streaks in your hair wouldn't change that you are you. No matter if you try to change it."

She just stares with a bright smile. I could see the light in her eyes and I missed that so much. Putting a smile on her face would always make my day better. That's how our friendship worked. Make the other light up and you felt better in no time. We were always connected in that way. There's no way to explain why, just helps that growing up together makes it easier to bright up each other's day.

"Hey. I'm the one who's supposed to be making you smile." She says.

"Always do."

She hugs me. "Oh how I've missed you."

"I missed you too." We pull away. "Don't leave again. Okay?"

She nods. "Promise." I smile. "Ready to go inside?"

My heart sank and I felt my stomach turn again. I know I have to do this. It's the right thing to do. I owe it to them. I owe myself too. Because their familiar family relationship we have would have helped so much more if they had been around when it happened. Things wouldn't have been so lonely. I would have probably had an easier time getting through this with them. No offense to the Hasting, because they did help. It's just family knows you better. No they aren't blood but they sure as hell might as well be.

I watch her for awhile. Then nod. "Let's go." I didn't hesitate this time. I opened the door and walked with Aria to her house. She had to hold me for support though, 'cause I was ready to pass out.

We get to the door and she slowly opens it. We enter the hall and I immediately smell the familiar coconut scent that always came to you as you walked into the house. I look around. Besides all the noticeable boxes scattered around from their move back here, everything looked the same. Right in front of us was the staircase we used to race up to see who was faster. To the left is the kitchen. It looked like Aunt Ella was getting ready to cook 'cause all the stuff was already set on the counter. To the right was the Living Room. I smile as I see Uncle Byron sitting on the couch, news paper in one hand and coffee in the other. I remember when we used to sit around him and wait for him to read the funny cartoon comics that came with it.

He looks over at us. At first he doesn't react as he looks back at his paper but then he does a double take. His face lights up and he jumps to his feet. "Ella, Mike!" He yells. When he got to me he wraps his arms around me and spins me around. I start to laugh, feeling like a little kid again. From all the commotion Aunt Ella comes running from the back of the house and Mike speeds down the steps. Mike just smiles when he seems me. But Aunt Ella had a stunned look. It's as if she didn't know what to say or do. Then she finally smiles and walks over to me. Her hug felt so comforting, like a mothers hug. I didn't want to let go. I couldn't let go. It felt so right to be in her arms. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I'm home.


	8. Chapter 8

**Pretty Little Liars belongs to Sara Shepard and ABC Family.**

**I do not take credit.**

* * *

The reunion didn't start to bad. We sat around in the Kitchen so Aunt Ella could cook and talk at the same time. They asked me questions about how school was, what I've been up to and how it was moving back. Then I asked them basically the same questions. Apparently Iceland isn't a place with much sunlight. How did they handle that? They apologized for not keeping in touch much after they moved. It was nothing to be sorry about. I already knew why they didn't. They rarely called 'cause of how much money it cost internationally. They would try to get a call or two in every month or so to keep the bill from being high. Eventually they got busy. Aria and Mike started going to school there so that even got in the way of internet communication as well. I'd hear from Aria through Facebook maybe once every other week. If I was lucky we'd even see each other through webcams. But after about a year mine broke so there went that idea.

"Oh jeez!" We all look at Mike as he got to his feet. "I'm gonna be late for tryouts."

He starts running up the steps. "What sport is he playing?"

"Lacrosse." They all say.

"Wasn't tryouts yesterday?"

"It's a two day tryout session." Aunt Ella says from the stove.

"Oh." I look at the time. It was almost three. "I could take him if you want. I have my car."

"You're driving?" Uncle Byron says.

"Mhm."

We could now hear Mike running around upstairs. "Who's car do you have? Mommy's or daddy's." He said it in a baby voice.

Just that sentence alone made the convo go from good to shitty. It felt like my heat broke a bit as he said it becaue I realized that I had completely forgotten the reason I came over. I half smile. "Neither. Dad's got totaled and I had to trade in mom's for a car I could afford." It got quiet. By their faces I could tell that they forgot that mom and dad weren't around. I felt guilty myself, because so did I. Being with them felt so normal that I thought it was like any other day of me spending time with the Montgomerys.

"Jessie. I'm sorry I..."

"Don't worry about it Uncle Byron." I get up. "I'll take him." I look at Aria. "Wanna come?"

She looks at her parents then nods. "Sure."

"Let Mike know we'll be in the car." I walk away.

From behind me I hear Aria. "Good one dad."

"I...I wasn't thinking."

The rest of their convo I didn't hear. I already walked out of the house by then. I wasn't mad at Uncle Byron. He just found out, it's understandable to forget. I on the other hand shouldn't have been that forgetful, I saw them everyday. Forgetting shouldn't be an option because I think about them all the time.

I practically throw myself into my car, slamming the door behind me. I take out my phone and start looking through some pictures and conversations I still had from my family. I went through them every time I felt down. I couldn't bring myself to delete the texts. They really weren't anything special. Just normal convos, but I couldn't do it. They were all I had left of them. It always seems like a bad idea to do this to myself because it just makes it worse. At the same time it helps a bit.

My eyes start to swell up with tears. There's rage going through me and out of frustration I punch the wheel. "Whoa! Jessie chill out." I didn't notice that Aria had opened the door in mid punch. I tried not to look at her as pain rushes through my hand. It hurts like hell but at this point I don't care.

I breath in and out as deeply as I can to keep myself from screaming out. I hadn't felt like this in the longest time. The whole day sucked. Problem after problem as they were all I could think about, trying to figure out how to tell Aria. Obviously I should have seen this coming once I saw her walk into my English class. I just wish that I was able to handle it better. I feel how I did the day it happened and that was the worst day of my life. Feeling all those emotions again was never part of the plan.

I close my eyes from Aria's hand closing on my shoulder. I wanted to look at her but I couldn't. It just made everything more real to see her right now. Then I hear the door and Mike jumps in. "Thanks for the ride Jessie."

I collect my feelings and smile at him through the mirror. "Not a problem."

"I owe you."

"Treat me for pizza the next time we hang out and I'll call it even."

He laughs. "You got it."

Before I take off I give Aria a quick look. She has concerned written all over her face. Could I blame her? No. It's a normal reaction, especially in a situation like this. She doesn't even know the story yet, so this must make her even more worried about me. Once she finds out she's probably never gonna be able to look at me the same. Even more so when she hears how much I've changed since then.

I drop Mike off at school. "Thanks!" I smile. "If I need a ride would you mind picking me up?"

I shake my head. "Just call if you need me."

"No matter where you are?"

"No matter how far." I see Aria trying to hold in a laugh. I wasn't sure if he noticed that we just had a conversation in song lyrics. But all I could assume was he didn't because he just nods and starts to walk away. "But you'll owe me ice cream as well as pizza!" I scream out.

He laughs. "That I can handle. See you guys later." He runs off to the front doors.

Aria let's out her laughter as I watched him to make sure he got in okay. I was smiling myself but then she looked at me and it seemed that she changed her mood real quick. I was now trying really hard to ignore the fact that she was looking at me like a hunter would to their pray. I know this is a weird comparison but I can't think of any other way to describe this moment.

Once Mike walked inside there was no way to ignore her. "Aria. Will you stop?"

"Being concerned?"

"No. Looking at me like a creep."

I see a smile starting to come from the corner of her mouth but then it fades just as quickly. I knew this look too well. I could never keep eye contact for long 'cause it felt as if she was staring into you, trying to get into your head to see what your thinking. This is the look she has when she's either about to give you a lecture or wants to get something out of you. I obviously knew which one she was aiming for. But luckily we were interrupted when a loud bang came from my window, followed by "Brant!" Being yelled at the top of his lunges.

This scared both of us. I saw Aria jump so high she almost hit her head. Unfortunately for me, I did hit my head. I grabbed it and start to turn. When I get all the way around my eyes narrow in annoyance. Noel Kahn was laughing his head off outside my window. He was turning so red I was sure he would pass out.

I lower the window. "Noel. You ass."

He starts to wipe the tears from his eyes and smiles. His blue eyes were glittering from the sun and his smile. My God his smile. I swear it's so big you could see it a mile away. He has one of those smiles that goes from ear to ear. It could probably get him out of trouble. Even now he can still make me melt. I'm not into him like that anymore but he has that type of affect on people. Which is a problem considering I have a boyfriend.

"Jessie Brant." He says slowly. "It's been awhile."

"What do you want Noel?"

"Now is that any way to talk to a friend?" I don't answer. "Look. I'm sorry I scared you. Just thought I would come say hi."

"Last time you wanted to say hi my ex boyfriend and his girlfriend tagged along."

"You're still mad about that?"

"She punched me in the face." His face goes into a realization moment. We were at a party. When I saw him he had a beer in his hand. So all I can think is he probably didn't remember much of that night from drinking too much. How he could forget about us almost getting into a fight though is beyond me. "So how is that being a friend?" I add.

"Okay...that wasn't planned. We were at a party and I thought I was the only person they knew. Then I saw you and they followed. How was I supposed to know she was going to hit you?"

"By knowing that me and her aren't on good terms because she's Amber's cousin and hates me since she does?"

"Oh yea."

"Oh and also because she stole Zander from me."

Before I go any further, I want to let you know that we weren't talking about Riley. It was her cousin Carly. She goes to school in a different town and is about a year older than us. I met her when my parents sent me to a softball camp a couple years before I moved. I had no idea they were related but it happened to be that we were the only ones who had no one we knew at this camp. So we kind of became friends and took things from there. I didn't find out that she was her cousin though until I moved back here. I only kept in touch by phone and when I went to camp the next year. Then of course I moved and never saw her again till I had ran into her one day when she came to pick the twins up from school. Things had went from celebration and shock, to awkward and anger as soon as we noticed this.

Amber and Tommy walked over in the middle of us talking. Amber of course didn't waste any time to be mean. When she got to me she shoved me to the side and called me names. Carly told her to leave me alone. Then that's when Amber had a fit. Telling her that we've been enemies since kids and hated my guts. I honestly never considered her an enemy. Just a bully who bothered everyone.

This was in November. Not to long after I made Tommy look like an idiot in front of his crush. They had told her about it, so once she found out I was the one who did that to him she didn't see eye to eye with me anymore. I tried to reason with her, letting her know all the things they've been doing to people and even me since little but she didn't want to hear it. She got pissed and told me to leave her and her family alone. Despite being friends for awhile she basically scrapped me aside like garbage and never talked to me again. Until a few weeks later when I found out that my ex boyfriend Zander dumped me for her.

Zander's two years older, so at the time he was a Senior. He was someone who I was decently close to before I moved. We kept in touch through my time in Jersey. Eventually he was brave enough to ask me out and we tried out the long distance. Luckily for us though I found out not to long later that I was moving back. When I got back he was mister big shot Captain of the Baseball team and tried to fit me into his popular life as much as possible. Because as I already told you, a lot of people had a problem with me. So things between me and him were a little bit harder to handle than we planned. Especially him being a Senior his friends thought dating a Sophomore was weird.

Now apparently he met Carly at his friends wedding. Which he invited me to, but I couldn't go. Then one day I'm waiting for my mom to get her coffee at the Brew and she walks in with Amber. When they saw me it was like they couldn't contain themselves. They let me know how they saw Zander at the wedding kind of bummed out and Carly practically swooped in and made his night. I wasn't worried until about a week or so later when he told me it wasn't working anymore. Next thing I know Amber is rubbing it in my face that he's with Carly. I was pretty ticked off and wanted nothing to do with him. Then not too long later Spencer introduced me to Andrew and changed my view on boys.

I look at Aria, her eyebrows were raise. She knew about Carly and Zander because I told her after it happened. I just never got the chance to let her know that she almost broke my nose at that party.

"Right..." Noel finally gets out. Then trails away. "I'm really sorry." I eye him for awhile. "Please forgive me?" He rests his hands on the window. "I wouldn't do something like that on purpose. I know I can be mean but I'm not a complete douche." I tried not to laugh, because not too long ago he had no idea what a douche even was. This was a word that many people had a problem with me saying since it wasn't known here. And here he is, a popular kid no less is using a word that I can say I created in this town. "You're my buddy." He continues. "My partner for pong. Who else is gonna be by my side?" It didn't convince me much so he pouts his lips "Pwease Jessie." I try to hide a smile. "Pweaseeeee." This time a smile came through. "Ah, there's my girl."

I laugh. "Okay fine." He smiles. "Only because I can't stand hearing you talk like a baby."

He starts laughing. "You know you love it."

"Oh shut up." I say in a joking voice.

He smiles. "Okay. So I gotta go to Football practice. If I'm late you have to talk to Coach Stuart."

"Hey. Don't blame me for you being late."

"You're talking me to death Brant." I smile. "Plus you know him. He'll listen to you."

"Oh no." I shake my head. "Nuh uh. Don't use me as an excuse to get out of stuff just because I know Mr. Stuart."

"Jessie..."

"Noel...I'm about to open this door and give you a real reason to be late."

He backs away and puts his hands up. "No no. That's okay. " I half laugh and he starts to walk away. I turn to Aria, ready for her questions. "By the way." We look back at him. "My parents are going to be out of town in a couple weekends." I raise an eyebrow out of curiosity. "So I'm having a party at my cabin. You're welcome to come."

I nod. "Sounds like fun."

"You can bring your boyfriend. And..." He looks through the window. "Aria right?" She gets caught off guard but then nods. He smiles at her. "You're invited too."

"Oh...I uh. Okay."

He smiles. "I'll text you the details."

"Sounds good."

"Later." He says.

"See ya."

I roll up the window and wait till he gets inside. I wasn't up for him scaring me again. When he does I put the car in drive and take off. It's quiet, except for the radio. Then I pull up to a red light and look at her. "I need to stop at my dad's store. Do you mind coming with me?"

She shakes her head. "What do you have to go there for?"

"I gotta do the inventory. I haven't been opened in a week because I was getting ready for school. I'm a bit behind now." The light turns green and I turn the corner. There's the store down the block. She's quiet and I already know why. So I take a deep breath and say. "Go on."

She looks at me. "What?"

"I know you got things on your mind. So spill before I go into silent mode again."

She seems stunned but then she starts. "Do you own the store now?"

"It is my dad's store." I say.

"No. I mean..." She hesitates. "Did your parents leave it for you in the Will?"

I pulled up to the store. My dad was the type of person who wanted to do anything to make a good living for his family. He became a cop first but at the time he wasn't making enough 'cause he was only behind the desk, not getting out in the field much. So one day he passed by this building that had a sign saying it was for rent. It had been an out of business Sports Store for years. So what does he do? He gets the idea to buy it. Not even taking a second thought about what if it didn't work out. But luckily it did. It's been ours since I was six and has always done well. This town is very into their sports.

The store is in the corner of the block by a stop sign. There's a building filled with apartments next to it. If you turned this corner to start the next block there was a Flower store. The only thing that divided my dad's store with both buildings was an alleyway. The alley next to the apartment building has a door that leads up to the apartment that's above our store. No ones lived there in years. It needs a lot of work. That's the only reason why I haven't moved in myself. I can't afford to fix it up yet.

"Yea." I nod "They did."


	9. Chapter 9

**Credit to Sara Shepard and ABC Family for making PLL.**

**I don't own or take credit.**

* * *

Processing the inventory took a bit longer than I expected. Every two weeks I order more stuff. So two weeks before that's what I did. Except I didn't really expect not being open for a week, so I didn't sell the amount of products I usually do before I got more. I had about twice the amount of equipment than I usually have but with my broken wrist and having to teach Aria how it works, we only got through four out of the many boxes of sports equipment I had. So long actually that Aunt Ella ended up calling to see where we went to.

"At the Sports Store mom." She pauses. "Because Mike might need a ride back home and Jessie needed to do inventory. So it was easier just to come here than go home."

I was filling up the bucket of baseballs while she was on the phone. I look over at her and smile. She was pacing out of frustration, then looks over at me and mouths "Oh. My. God." I start to laugh because I understood why she did that. Her mom has a habit on calling for one thing then turns into a fifteen minute conversation. I knew this too well, dad used to do the same thing.

"Okay...yea...mhm." I couldn't help but crack up. It was always funny hearing these types of conversations when someone was on the phone with their parents. Always happens. You're on the phone for whatever amount of time and that's basically what you say through the whole thing. Then end it with a "Love you too. Bye."

She walks over and sits next to me. I was now filling up the soccer ball bucket. "Everything okay?" I ask.

She passes me a couple at a time. "Yea."

"What could she have been boring you with this time?" I half laugh.

"You."

I look at her. "Me?"

She hands me another one. "She wanted to make sure you're okay. Told me to let you know that dad feels bad."

I grab the ball and throw it into the bucket. She passes me another one. This time as I grabbed it I turn my body to her instead of the bucket. She watches me as I looked down at the ball, awkwardly rolling it back and forth. Then I looked back to her. "I saw them die." All the color leaves her face as I finished that sentence. I don't know what made me say it but as I did I felt sick. That was the first time I ever said those words out loud.

She was looking at me like she was lost for words. I didn't blame her, kind of came out of nowhere. We sat there in silence for awhile. It was so quiet that I could feel my heart in my ears. Pounding so fast I thought it would come out of my chest.

I throw the soccer ball into the bucket and start to get up. "Jessie wait." She says as I headed to the hallway. I can hear her running after me "Jessie!" She half yells and grabs my arm, turning me to her. Tears where streaming down my face and she just pulls me into a hug. "I'm sorry." She says. I dig my face into her shoulder and cried. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you." I could hear her voice crack.

After a bit I pick my head up. "Aria..." I try to compose myself. "I don't feel good." The room was starting to spin now.

She starts to let go and I almost collapse. "Whoa. Okay." She holds me up and drags me to the bathroom. When we get there she sets me down and I don't waste time as I puke the sandwich I had before I left the Hastings house into the toilet. "I'll go get you some water." She runs over to the office. There's a mini fridge that my dad bought and comes back with a bottle of water. "Here." I take a sip and sit up against the wall, she sits next to me.

My vision was still a bit blurry. It was as if I stood up too fast and couldn't see. But this was not the case and I was a bit scared. I try to calm myself and breathe. But every time I did it was difficult because my chest hurt when I did. It felt like it was caving in.

My face must have given it away. "What is it?" She says. I shake my head and try to talk but nothing comes out. "Jessie?" I put my hand to my chest as it rises and falls too fast for comfort. I look at Aria and see her eyes pop out in fear for a minute. Then just as fast she reacts and pushes me forward. The next thing I know she's sitting behind me and leans me back on her. "Breathe like me." My body starts to tense up from the pain of trying to breathe and I grit my teeth. I feel her fingers slip between mine, squeezing tight. "Feel my chest on your back and repeat the rhythm okay?"

The room starts to get dark. "Can't catch me!" These words echo in my ears as my breathing got slower. Then I see Jeff racing across the monkey bars at the park like he used to when we were kids. When he gets across he turns and smiles back at me. "Come on Jessie. Don't be afraid." I'm standing at the edge, debating if I should go across.

"Breathe Jessie." I hear Aria. Her voice sounded so far away.

"Jessie." Now dad is standing next to Jeff. "It's okay to cross over."

I look behind me, then back to them. "What if I don't want to?"

Mom comes to view and she has a smile. "That's okay too."

"Don't leave me." Arias crying voice comes to me.

A tear rolls down my cheek. "I can't yet."

They all smile. "We'll be here when you're ready." Mom says.

"I love you." Then I turn around and run the opposite way.

The bathroom was coming to view and in the matter of seconds my vision is fully back. Aria has her arms wrapped around me, her phone in her hand. The screen had the numbers 911 on it. She was just about to press the call button when I squeeze her fingers that were still between mine. I look up at her and see her face stained with tears. My breathing was getting back to normal now and she just smiles at me. "You're okay." I take a deep breath and nod. She gives me such a big hug that I couldn't help but laugh a bit. I hug back, not wanting to let go. That was one of the scariest moments of my life. I was pretty convinced that I was about to see my family again.

We sat in that spot for awhile. Not saying anything. I think she was afraid to let go. "I'm sorry." I weakly get out.

She lifts her head off my shoulder and looks down at me. "Why are you sorry?"

"For scaring you."

She shakes her head. "It's okay." I lay my head on her arm. "Your body reacted to something you couldn't handle. You can't control that." I close my eyes, still feeling weak. "Don't scare me like that again."

I take a deep breath. "Wouldn't dream of it."

When I had a bit more energy to stand Aria took the liberty to drive us back to her house. I told her I was fine but she wouldn't hear it. We didn't even get to finish putting away the equipment we started. That's how concerned she was about me. She just moved everything up against the walls in the inventory room and had me lock up so we could leave. Mike had text earlier to let us know that he didn't need the ride, so we went straight to her house and hung around in her room till it was time for dinner.

"So this never happened?" I ask while searching for music on YouTube.

She nods. "Mom and dad will just make you go to the doctor or something. You're not sick. You just had a really bad panic attack." I nod in agreement. "Does that happen often?"

"Not as much as it used to."

"Meaning?"

"It happened a lot after the accident. Just thinking about it would trigger one. Today at Gym was the first time in months."

"When was the last time you talked about it?"

I shrug. "I don't know. It's been awhile."

"How long is awhile?"

"What does it matter?"

"Keeping things to yourself isn't healthy." Sounded like something Spencer would say. "If you don't get things off your mind and let it build up then more than just crying will happen."

I nod. "Right."

She watches me. "Just be careful on how long you stay quiet is all I'm saying. I know it's hard to talk about but especially something like this shouldn't be kept inside for too long."

I think for a bit, then pause the music on her laptop and look at her. "Don't think I'm crazy okay?"

She raises an eyebrow. "Why would I think that?"

"Because what I'm gonna tell you has me even wondering if I imagined it."

"Okay." She says a little concerned.

"When..." I hesitate. "When you were trying to keep my breathing under control at the store I think I left for a little."

"You...left?"

I think, trying to figure out how to explain. "You know how people say when you're on the verge of death you see your life flash before your eyes?" She nods. "Well...it was more than that. I...I actually think I was in between life and death this time."

Her face goes a little pale. Then she recovers. "This time?"

"During the accident I did go through that. I saw my life flash before me. But this time..this time I saw my parents and Jeff." I shake my head. "Not like I was having a memory of the past...it was as if I was right in front of them. They were waiting for me."

She is patient and listens as I told her exactly what I saw. I felt a bit bad because she looked like she wanted to cry. I understood of course. I was telling her something I saw when she was trying to save my life. I have no idea if I passed out and dreamt this but it felt so real. I don't want to admit that I really saw them 'cause that means that I almost died. But I also don't want to admit that it didn't happen because when I saw them it felt amazing.

"What made you stay?" She asks.

"You." She watches me. "I kept hearing your voice as you tried to keep me conscious. I wasn't ready to leave you behind." She gets teary eyed and I hug her.

"I love you." She says.

"Love you too."

"Hey." We both pull away. "Whoa you guys okay?"

We smile and nod. "Fine Mike. Just having a talk." She says.

He nods. "Right. Well...dinners ready."

"Okay." He walks away and we get up.

"Do you believe me?"

She grabs her laptop and puts it to the side. "I believe you saw this but I can't help you figure out if it was real."

I nod. "Don't think it's something anyone would really be able to figure out."

She nods. "Well, don't worry about it. Just live your life. You'll be okay."

Okay was definetly an understatement for today. I had gone through a bit more than I could handle for one day and it was just about to get worse. I have to tell the whole story of the accident to them and it's not going to be an easy task. I'm not even sure how to start.


	10. Chapter 10

**Pretty Little Liars belongs to Sara Shepard.**

**Also credit to ABC Family.**

**I do not own anything.**

**I know it's short and really a weak chapter but I'm getting there!**

* * *

When I got back to the Hastings that night it felt like all the energy had been sucked out of me. Tonight at the Montgomerys was mixed emotions. The food was great, always is. Aunt Ella has the magic touch when it comes to cooking and I for sure missed it. I was kind of surprised that they waited till we were all in the family room to ask about the accident. It took me a bit to gather my thoughts, but I was eventually able to get it out. Telling them lifted so much weight off my shoulders, but it left me feeling horrible. I was so emotional that I had them all in tears. I continued to apologize about not telling them but they didn't pay mind to it. They completely understood and I was happy that they were okay with this. Other than that, everything was pretty smooth and normal. It was as if we never moved away from each other.

After I parked my car I crept through the backyard and headed inside. It was no surprise that no one was hanging about, it was a bit after midnight now. I head to the stairs, slowly and quietly climbing the steps. Pretty exhausted I half drag my feet to my room and collapse onto the bed. My body completely relaxes from the comfort of the soft bed and I close my eyes.

It seemed like a minute later when I felt someone shaking me a bit. I make an annoyed sound and roll onto my stomach. I feel the lightness of a hand on my back and slightly get shaken again. "Jessie." I slowly open my eyes and turn my head towards the voice. Spencer was sitting on the edge of my bed.

I rub my eyes. "What's going on?" I start to turn onto my back.

She shrugs. "Oh nothing. Just this thing we have to go to. You know...it's called school."

I sit up so fast that I gave myself a head rush. When I could see again I look at my clock and notice I over slept. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner!" I get up and run off to the closet.

"Because I heard you get in late. Thought you could use the extra sleep."

I look at her, stumbling over my jeans as I struggled to get them on. "You heard me?" She nods. "But I tiptoed."

She smiles. "I was in the bathroom. When I got out I went to check on you but you were knocked out."

"Oh. Yea, I was pretty tired."

"Clearly. You didn't put your alarm on."

"My bad." I grab my phone. "Hold on. So you risked not being early for school to let me sleep in?" She nods, half smiling. "Who are you and what have you done with Spencer?"

She starts laughing. "It's not a big deal Jessie."

"For you it usually is."

She shrugs. "New year. Little things can change."

I nod. "Right." I slip on my sneakers. "Whatever you say."

She smiles. "Come on. Mom left money for us to pick something up at the Brew."

"That's new."

She shrugs. "She was in a good mood." She starts to walk out.

"I'll meet you downstairs. I gotta brush my teeth." She nods and walks off.

Since now we could both drive we decided before school started that we would take one day at a time to see who was in the mood to drive that particular day. It was silly of us to take two different cars unless we had to. Then we would pick Andrew up and head to school. But considering that I'm in a cast Mr. Hastings told us that he would rather Spencer drive whenever we were together. I agreed rather than argued.

When we got to school Spence parked her car in the parking lot a block down from the school. Andrew slips his fingers between mind and smiles down at me. I loved when he did this. It made me feel gushy inside. Everything he did made me feel this way and I couldn't stop smiling whenever I was. He kisses me and we head down to the school.

As usual we saw the cool kids hanging around their cars. They were blasting the music, making fun of the dorky kids and acting like they were the best people who entered the school. It's really obnoxious and annoying because no one should be downgraded based on others. I may be a Jock but I am certain that I am not like that. If I was I would like someone to tell me. I didn't like being treated like that and I sure as hell wouldn't want to do that to others.

I get to my locker and see Emily. "Hey guys." She says.

We all smile. "I'll see you at Gym." Andrew kisses me and he leaves. Spencer smiles and was right behind him.

"Can't you guys reconnect?" I say as I open my locker.

She looks at me. "It's not that simple."

"If you were close before, why can't you be again?"

"We were only close because of Ali." I tried not to cringe when I heard her name. Alison was horrible. Yes I feel bad that she disappeared and no one has any ideas what happened. But I can't say that I miss her. Even after being out of the state for a couple years I noticed the difference when I came back. It still has it's jerks, just like every school. But it's a better atmosphere without her being a total brat and ass to everyone.

"But that shouldn't be the reason you guys stopped being friends."

"It's complicated Jessie."

"Okay...whatever. I won't get in the middle of it." I close my locker. "But I'm friends with all of you. So could you try to act like you know each other if I invite you guys to do something?"

She smiles. "Of course." She looks over my head. "Hey I gotta go. I'll see you later." I nod and she walks away. She heads over to some of her friends and now I found myself standing alone. Always a great feeling. So I just decide to sit on the floor of the lockers and draw a bit. Was the only thing I could think of to keep myself busy. I was happy that I could do this again without thinking about it.

Not too long later I hear. "Hey Jessie." I look over and see Aria at her locker.

"Hey."

"Busy?"

I shake my head. "No. Just..."

"Keeping busy." She finishes for me.

I nod. "Yea. Something like that."

She smiles. "How are you?" She closes her locker and walks over.

"I'm okay."

"Just okay?" She sits down.

I shrug. "Not much to say after the night we had."

She nods. It got a bit quiet. "You know what we forgot to do yesterday?" She stares at me.

I look at her and shake my head. "No. What?"

"We didn't take our first day of school picture."

I raise an eyebrow. "You still do that?"

She laughs. "No. When I moved I stopped. Besides that was something our parents started for us. Why would I do it without you."

"Because you grew out of it?"

"You're never too old to take pictures Jessie." I give her a look. "Oh come on. It's basically a tradition. We've been doing it forever."

"It's not even the first day."

"No one needs to know that."

I shrug. "I don't know."

She gives me a little shove. "Don't be sucha party pooper."

I laugh. "Fine...fine. Just for old times sake."

"That's the spirit!"

She takes out her phone and clicks on the camera app. Then she leans in and snaps the photo. We both look at it "Not to bad for our first picture together in three years." She says.

I nod. "Except that my face is messed up and I look exhausted."

She laughs. "We both look exhausted. But that's okay." She saves it. "I'm not going to put you through taking a million pictures before I like it."

I look at her. "Oh. You're one of those girls." I laugh.

She laughs herself. "Yes I am. Problem?" It was a little weird. She's the same Aria I grew up with, but at the same time she's a bit different. I didn't really notice it yesterday but today it seems her style has changed a bit. She's more girly than she used to be. No one will call her Goth anymore.

I shake my head and laugh. "Nope. Nope. No problem here."

She smiles and shoves me playful. "Man I love you."

I smile. "Love you back."

"Love you more."

I shake my head. "Can't be true."

"Always true." I just smiled at her. I missed this. We had the best friendship anyone could ask for. It's rare to have a friend that you've known since little and can still be as close as ever. Even moving away didn't brake that bond and I'm very grateful for that.

She watches me draw till the bell rings. I pack up and she helps me to my feet. Then we head inside for English class. Let the school day begin.


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own.**

**PLL was made by Sara Shepard.**

**ABC Family also owns.**

* * *

The day started out a bit awkward because I saw Mr. Fitz and I had to do my best not to think to much about what he told me. But once he started class it got better. He interacts with everyone as if you are a friend and does his best to make something boring more interesting. Everyone hung onto every word as he talked. Looking around the room you could tell all the girls were drooling over him. I mean who can blame them? He's young and I have to admit, he's pretty cute. But what really got me in a good mood was Art class. I finished the drawing I had started from the day before. The teacher was extremely impressed and grabbed it from me. When she looked at Arias she was also very pleased as she put both of our stuff up on the board for everyone to see.

"Now this is perfection." She says. I look around the room and I could tell the rest of the class wasn't too thrilled. Most of the kids in this class were either under classmen with less experience or had been thrown into this class for credit.

On my way to my locker at the end of the day Spence had taken off. She forgot to mention that she had Field Hockey today, so she was just going to hang at the Brew till it was time. I told her I'd find something to do after school and not to worry. Andrew volunteered to help Mr. Brooks clean up his class a bit. He's not the most organized person and already had his desk a mess. It's only the second day and you could barely see the top of it.

"Hey Em." I say as I got to my locker.

She looks over and smiles. "Hey."

"Got any plans today?"

She nods. "I have Swimming at four."

"What are you doing till then?"

She opens her mouth to answer. "Hey." We both look. A girl was walking over. I haven't seen her before.

"Hey Maya. How was your day?" Emily says.

She nods. "As good as school can get I guess." Em smiles. "Walking home together?"

"I have Swim practice later."

"Exactly, later." She smiles at her.

She half smiles. "Right." I was watching her as she turned a bit red. She looks at me and changes her expression. "Uh. This is Jessie."

I put out a hand and she hugs me. "Hi, I'm Maya."

I'm taken a bit by surprise. "You're friendly." I look at Em who is trying to hide a laugh.

She backs away and laughs. "Yea. Sorry."

I shake my head. "No. It's fine." I get a bit speechless and see Aria behind them. "Well. Ima go. I'll see you tomorrow Em." She smiles and I hug her. I turn to Maya and half smile. "Nice to meet you." And I take off.

I walk over to Aria. "Who's that?" She asks when she sees me.

"Who?"

"That girl who hugged you?"

"Oh." I shrug. "One of Emilys' friends."

"So you don't know her?"

I shake my head. "She's just very friendly."

She laughs. "I see." I nod. "Where's Spencer?"

"At the Brew. She's staying there till Field Hockey."

"Oh. Andrews busy too?"

"Yea. He's helping Mr. Brooks with something."

"So all by your lonesome."

I laugh and nod. "Yea."

"Wanna walk home with me?"

"You didn't drive?"

"Dad dropped us off."

"Oh. Well..." I feel a shove and accidentally knock into Arias locker. I rub my shoulder as she helps me stand straight and we both look to the side.

"Watch where you're going Four Eyes."

My eyes narrow as I see Amber, Tommy and two of their friends walking down the hall. They were all laughing and staring at me but I didn't bother saying anything.

"You okay?"

I nod. "I'm good."

"They still bother you?" I nod. "Even being popular?"

"That doesn't really matter to them. I'm not at the top of the poplar list so they could care less about starting with me."

She reopens her locker and rearranges some things. When she's done we head outside and start walking home. We cut through the park like we used to when we were kids. Which was a bad idea because about halfway through we noticed Amber and her brother walking ahead of us. Just as we were thinking of backtracking to take a different way through the park we saw them starting to pick on some Junior High kids.

Tommy gives one of the boys a wedgie and I yell. "Do you guys have nothing better to do with your lives!" This makes them stop and turn.

"What?" She says.

For a second I think whether I really wanted to argue. "Are your lives so boring that you have to make everyone else miserable?" I get out.

They both look at each other and start to walk over. The Junior High boys wasted no time as they ran off. She doesn't show much emotion as she says. "We make you miserable?"

"No I..."

"That's not what we meant to do." Tommy cuts me off. Then looks at his sister.

I look at Aria in confusion. "Uh."

"Because if that's the case I'm sorry." Now I was really confused. "We were aiming for making your life a living hell." They both start laughing.

I inhale deeply and compose myself. "Well aren't you guys hilarious."

They smile brightly, yet evil was in their eyes. "Aw Brant. You have no sense of humor."

"I think we have different opinions on what's funny."

They watch me for awhile. Slyly smiling. "Hey Gothy." Amber finally says.

"Hows it feel to be a loser again?" Tommy adds.

She doesn't answer and I look over at her. I see that even though she's changed her image she's still the same scared kid that was afraid to say anything when people pick on her. I couldn't blame her. I used to be the same.

"Leave her alone will you."

"Were we talking to you?" Tommy says.

"Well I'm talking to you...and I'd prefer if you stop being pricks."

Amber still had no idea what a prick was and this pleased me. Tommy on the other hand seemed to have figured it out and got closer. Aria grabs my arm and pulls me back a bit.

"Watch your mouth smart ass." He says.

I half laugh. "That's more of a compliment than an insult Tommy boy."

"Don't call me that."

"Well, well, well. Someone doesn't like being called names. Sounds like someone I know." He gives me a look and I just smile.

Tommy may be a jerk but when it comes to hitting girls he won't do it. He has some manners. This is why I talk back to him without a filter. I know he won't do anything to me. Amber is a different story. I watch her like a hawk because she usually gets you when you're not looking. I know, a coward right? But also I know she wants a fight so if I let my guard down it'll turn into one before I can stop it.

"Guys!" We all look and I see their younger brother standing at the end of the park.

"Hi Pete!" I yell over to him. He smiles at me and waves.

Their brother loves me. He's six, so he doesn't really understand that me and the twins aren't exactly friends. One time last year I was playing basketball with Jeff and he wanted to play. I didn't think twice as I put him on my shoulders and let him slam dunk.

"Don't talk to him." Amber says.

"Can't really stop me without making him upset." I smirk.

They just watch me carefully. "Watch your back Brant." Amber says and they both turn away. We watch them walk over to their brother and out of sight.

I start to smile at Aria and notice the expression on her face. "What was that?" She says.

"What?"

"You were kind of an ass."

"I don't know if you noticed, but so were they."

"Stooping to their level isn't the way to go Jessie."

I start walking. "I didn't stoop to their level. I was standing up for myself."

"Since when?"

"What does that even mean."

"Since when do you stand up for yourself?" She gives me a look. "Huh? Because you used to cry and run away when someone picked on you. I was always there to calm you down."

I look at her. "It's called growing up." I said it in a bit of an attitude without meaning to.

"What happened to you?" I don't answer. She stands in front of me and stops. "Jessie. What..."

"My family died. THAT'S what happened." I get around her and quickly walk away.

I'm not sure why I was so mad but I was. My first thought was to just go straight back to the Hastings. Then I remembered that no one was there. I wasn't really in the mood to sit in an empty house. I mean Melissa and Wren are probably there but they are in the loft. Plus it would be awkward. I don't know Wren, and Melissa is like five years older so I never really spent enough time with her to feel comfortable.

Eventually Aria caught up and convinced me to go pick something up for lunch at the Grill, then maybe hang out at her house. I was hesitant at first from being a bit heated by anger but then I cooled down and agreed. She didn't bring up what just happened after she apologized for judging, but I could tell by the look in her eyes that she was concerned about me. This new attitude wasn't who I was when she was around and I don't think she knows how to react.

I don't know how anyone tolerates my bad temper these days. I know as well as anyone that the death of my family changed me. But if I was them I would give myself a slap over the head for it. Especially if it's for no reason and don't deserve it. But of course they won't because they understand that I'm going through a hard time. Fine, okay, I'm going through a hard time. But does that really mean that I should be an ass to my friends months after it happened? No way. Friends are there to help and support you, not to be yelled at for no reason. They need to snap me out of being angry at the world.

The walk was a bit quiet. I was looking down at my feet most of the time. Wasn't sure what was so interesting about my feet but it kept me from having to look at Aria. I'm starting to notice quickly that my attitude is making things between me and her more complicated than it should be. Our friendship is exactly the same as when we were growing up but once I get upset things change and we both get really quiet.

When I decide to look up I can see the Grill straight down, a few blocks away. "Jessie?" I slowly look at Aria. "I was wondering...well." She hesitates and I wait patently. "Do you think we can go to the Rosewood Cemetery sometime this week?"

My heart sinks. "I..." I take a deep breath. "I knew I forgot to mention something to you."

She raises an eyebrow. "About what?"

"You're asking so we can go to the graves...right?" She nods. "Well...they aren't buried here."

Her expression changes. "Why wouldn't..."

"They are in New Jersey." I pause for a second. "My entire family lives there. So that's where they wanted to burry them...I pretty much had no say."

She stops me and stares. "Wait. So you don't get to go see their graves unless you visit?" I nod. "And when was the last time you did?"

"The funeral."

Her mouth starts to drop. Then she says. "That's not fair."

"That's another reason why me and Aunt Katie haven't talked since. I was mad at her for agreeing that it was better for them to be buried there than here." I look at her. "She said it was because mom and dad were born and grew up there."

"But Jeff grew up HERE."

I nod. "I know. But I wasn't paying for it so it didn't matter what I thought. Plus I'm a minor."

"That's not right."

I shrug. "Nothing I can do about it now."

"Why haven't you been there since February?"

I shrug. "I was going through a lot."

"Family usually helps."

"Well my family was doing the opposite." She watches me and I start to walk. "Everyone tried to get me to move back to Jersey. That wasn't what I wanted but it didn't seem like they cared." My mind was racing a mile a minute now. "When I refused and had the Hasting interfere they all got upset with me. When they won to keep me around it got worse. I don't talk to most of them as much as I used to."

I hear her take a deep breath. "So I'm guessing that means you never called your aunt back?"

I shake my head. "Not really in the mood to hear what she has to say."

"Maybe it's important."

"If it was she would have either left a message or kept calling me." She continues to look at me.

It was probably the right thing to call her back but what was there to talk about? Every time we talk it turns into an argument. Its always been like that and I'm kinda tired of it. Even when I was living in Jersey we would argue. We butt heads a lot and I think it's because she's closer in age to me than my other aunts and uncle. Dad has an older brother in his mid forties and a twin sister in her early forties. Aunt Katie is moms younger sister. She's about ten years younger, in her mid 20s. She's protective like an adult but she still acts like a college kid. Going out parting, hanging out till late, not being a good influence basically. That was one of the arguments that the Hastings used to keep me here.

"So you haven't seen any of your friends from there either?"

"Sam and Bailey have come to visit a few times."

"That's good...right?"

I smile. "Yea. I just feel bad that they have to drive almost two hours to see me."

"Would be the same if you go to them."

"Well...I mean yea. But I have family there. That's the reason why we used to go down there often. There's really no reason for them to come here besides to see me."

"I think that's the best reason to come here." She smiles and I start to blush a bit. "But you should start going to see them." I went to interrupt. "I know. You're not on the same page as your family and that's why you refuse to go back but you have to reconnect eventually. Even if it's not to do that you have to see your other friends."

I shrug. "I really didn't have many friends. You know that."

"I know you had a hard time making friends but I'm sure you made a good amount besides those two." We reach the front doors of the Grill and head inside. "Let's talk to mom and dad about taking a visit soon." We stand behind some people in line in front of the counter. "It'll be more than just to see your friends. We can go to the Cemetery and maybe...maybe you can find a way to forgive your family. Because you may not want to admit it...but you need them."

I look at her. "I've managed six months without seeing them, barely even talking to them. Why would you think I need them?" She opens her mouth. But then seems to be lost for words and closes them again. "Look. If I needed them I would have changed my mind on staying here. But I didn't. I stayed because I grew up here. I'm comfortable with the surroundings of this town and the people here. This is my home. That will never change."

She half smiles. I'm not sure what she was thinking. She seems upset about me not going to my family. I mean I get it, family is important. Especially for something like this. But if they don't make much of an effort either then why bother? I talk to whoever wants to talk to me, most of them being cousins who weren't part of the decision to force me to leave or to have the funeral out of Rosewood. But there were times where I tried to have some kind of conversation with the others. They just never appreciated it at the time. Now that I make almost no effort at all to keep in touch they all of a sudden care? That's not how it works.

I lean up against one of the walls, waiting as Aria orders the same food we used to always get for lunch to go. I stare over at one of the tables all the way in the back of the restaurant and smile to myself. Before our lives changed I used to sit at that table with Aria, talking nonsense and laughing our heads off the entire time. Things seemed so much simpler back then. We were only twelve at the time but it felt like we conquered the world together. No matter the problems the other may have been going through at the time, we were always there for each other. Why did us moving away change that so much? Did growing up in different parts of the world really have such an impact on our personalities that we no longer know how to talk to each other about what's on our minds?

I look at her and she brightly smiles at me. I slightly smile back and look away. Then I realize. She hasn't changed...I have. More than I probably thought.


	12. Chapter 12

**Sara Shepard and ABC Family own.**

**I do not take credit.**

* * *

Getting to the Montgomerys after the Grill we were the only ones there. Uncle Byron was at work and Aunt Ella was at the store. As for Mike? He was probably hanging out with friends.

We go over to the family room to eat and put on Netflix to watch our favorite TV show...Doctor Who! Last summer I started watching it and told her about it. She got hooked at once and we agreed to let each other know where we left off so we could be on the same pace. We both agree that the Tenth Doctor is the best Doctor from the reboot series. David Tennant. I mean come on! You can't get any better than him. We used to agree on the companion too. But she changed hers. I have always liked Rose. Aria on the other hand now prefers Donna. Like, no! No one can compare to Rose. He loves her!

After a bit of back and forth on trying to get the other to see reason on our pick of companion, we gave up. We just stuck with watching it and did our best not to bring up the subject again. Eventually I started to get a bit tired and ended up falling asleep a few hours into it. My dreams were filled with the memories of the times we spent with the Montgomerys. It was weird because when I'm awake I can barely remember the earlier years. I was three, don't really remember much from that age. But this dream was spot on in details when our parents used to tell us stories. It literally felt like I was there right at that moment.

It's a hot sunny summer day in the middle of June. Dad has me in his arms, spinning me round and round. The world was turning and I could feel myself about to be sick. "Joey, put her." Mom says. He does and I go to run after Jeff, who at the age of two was sitting in a baby pool splashing water around the front yard. But when I took a step forward I fall from the dizziness.

I hear dad's laughter and he helps me to my feet. "There you go Jellybean." I smile up at him as he walks away.

I look around as everything starts to stay still again. I see the movers bringing our things into the house from the moving truck in our driveway. Mom was kneeling next to the baby pool, splashing Jeff with water. Then there was dad, he was now starting to help the workers with our things. I'm not sure what's going on. I didn't know we were moving into a new house that was in a new town and in a totally different state. Who's going to understand that at the age of three?

As I was getting used to my surroundings I hear. "Aria! Aria don't run off!" I turn around and see a little girl running out of a car. She was just getting to the edge of the grass from the house next door when a man grabs her and swings her onto his shoulders.

She starts to laugh and he smiles at her. "What did we tell you about wondering off?"

He puts her down and she looks up at him. "Fast...daddy, fast." She says.

He smiles. "Daddy's tired Pookiebear. We can play tag later."

She looks over at me and I start to walk, or more like wobble closer. "Jessie." I hear mom. I look behind me and see her lift Jeff out of the pool, then puts him back on the ground. When he catches his footing she holds out her hand and he grabs it. They both walk over and I grab her other hand. "Hello." She says when we reach the end of our property.

The man smiles. "Moving in?" She nods. "Welcome to Rosewood. I'm Byron." A lady comes to view next to him caring a baby. "This is my wife Ella and our kids. Mike." He rubs the top of the babys' head in her arms. "And Aria." He looks down at her. She was now hiding behind him. "We live next door."

"Nice to meet you." She smiles. "I'm Stephanie. This is Jeff." She looks to one side as he was trying to pull away. "And this is Jessie." She looks down at me.

We hear the noise of a car starting and when we turn we see the truck backing out of the driveway. "Have a good day!" The drive says. Mom smiles and waves as it drives away.

Then "Steph. Where's the..." He stops in his tracks and walks to us. "What's going on?"

"Joey, these are our neighbors."

"Byron." He stretches out a hand.

"Joey." Dad returns the handshake. "Been living here long?"

He shakes his head. "Been here for about two years. But it's a pretty smooth transition."

Dad nods. "That's good to know."

"Can we invite you to a cup of coffee?" Aunt Ella says.

They both stare at each other and nod in agreement. Mom goes to change Jeff out of his swimwear. Dad picks me up and follows them to their house. This was the beginning of an amazing friendship.

The dream changes now. I'm sitting in the sandbox at the park, filling up a bucket with sand. Aria was sitting across from me digging a whole. Jeff was being pushed on the swing with Mike by dad and Uncle Byron. Our moms were sitting at the bench next to the sandbox.

I look up at Aria. "Ria." That's what I used to call her. For some reason I didn't know how to include the A. But once I started school they taught me how to pronounce it.

She looks at me but doesn't say anything. When we first met she was extremely shy. She would almost never interact with me. If she did it was because Uncle Byron or Aunt Ella helped her.

I crawl over and put the bucket of sand in front of her. She looks down at it. "Ria. Play." I say and tap the sand with the scooper I had in my hand. She looks behind me and I turn around. Mom and Aunt Ella were looking at us. "Ria play." I say again. They just smile at me.

I feel a finger slightly tap my arm. I turn. "Jessie...fast." Aria says and runs away.

I hear noise of excitement come from behind me. That was the first time she talked to me. "Go get her Jessie." I turn to my mom.

"Tag?" I say.

She smiles and nods. "Tag."

"Jessie, fast!" I hear Aria again. I get to my feet and start to chase her around the park. This was our first bonding moment and it never got old.

Once again the dream changes. This is a more recent memory back when we were in the sixth grade. We were at the park playing catch. Or attempting too. Aria was never much of an athlete.

"Aria just toss it. Don't be afraid to give it your all."

"Jessie. I'm no good at this."

"There's no good or bad way to do it. You don't have to be a pro. Just throw the ball." She does and I have to jump to catch it. I laugh "See."

"You couldn't get someone who's into softball, or even baseball to play?"

"I could. But I wanted to spend time with you." I throw it back. "I don't know if you've noticed. But you've kinda been MIA since you and Spence started hanging around with Alison and the other girls."

She gets a bit quiet. "I'm sorry."

I shake my head. "Don't be. You're making new friends. There's no harm in that." I'm quiet for a second. "Just be careful. You know Alisons reputation."

She doesn't really react to what I said. Didn't surprise me since she's one of her good friends now. "You'll always be my best friend though. You know that right?"

I smile. "Always and forever?"

She smiles and nods. "Always and forever." She throws it back to me and then it gets dark.

Now I'm in Arias backyard. "Happy birthday!" I remember this memory like it was yesterday. This was the last birthday we spent together before she moved. I had already been in Jersey for about two months but came back for her thirteenth birthday. Turns out that our parents decided to have a party so we could celebrate both of our birthdays together. Mine was two weeks ago. They didn't tell either of us this though. We both thought that it was for Aria until we saw that the cake had both our names on it.

Me and Aria are both standing behind a table, cake on the table in front of us. Everyone started to sing happy birthday to us. I remember seeing the smile on her face that day and loving the fact I was back. The only thing I was iffy about was that Aria was still friends with Alison. So I was doing my best to tolerate having her around. When they are done our parents take some pictures of us in front of the cake, then us with family and friends.

"Okay. Time to cut the cake!" Mom yells.

She gives us both knives and we pose for a photo of us cutting the cake. Then I got an idea. I sneakily stuck two of my fingers into the icing and then smeared it on the side of her face. "Jessie!" She yells. Everyone starts to crack up and the look on her face was so priceless. Then she puts her finger in the cake and I duck as she tried to get it on me. Her second attempt was successful though. I was too busy laughing my ass off. It really was a Kodak moment. Dad got the whole thing on tape and Aunt Ella had us take a picture like that. I felt like a little kid again.

Now you'd think that I would say that was my best memory yet? Well you're half right. Because as amazing that day was, Alison had ruined it by the end of the day. The adults and our brothers went inside so we could hang out with our friends. That went from good to shitty in less than ten minutes.

"Hanna." She looks over. "Do you really want to eat that?" We all look at Alison as she said that. "That's your third piece." Hanna was going through a lot the past year or so. Her dad left her mom and she started eating her feelings away. She gained weight but that was none of Alisons business.

"Ali!" Spencer says.

She looks at her. "What?"

"Leave Hanna alone."

Hanna slowly puts down her plate of cake and sits back in her chair. She looked like she wanted to cry. She was sitting next to me so I lean to the side. "Don't listen to her." I half whisper. I look towards Alison and see she's giving me an evil look. "Got something to say?" She looks like she was in mid thought but then doesn't say anything. I was surprised. Alison DiLaurentis never gives up an opportunity to speak her mind. I was terrified of Alison, everyone was. But I always tried not to show it. I did my best to keep a brave face and stand my ground.

The last face I see is Alison's evil smirk as the scene goes dark. "Hey." I hear through my sleepiness. "Wakey wakey sleepy head." I slowly open my eyes. Arias face comes to view from above my own.

I stretch. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep on Doctor Who."

"Oh man!" I say in a whinny voice. I was really comfortable so I didn't get up right away. "What time is it?"

"Almost five. Mom wants to know if you're staying for dinner."

I look over and see Aunt Ella sitting at the table in the kitchen. Then I lay back down and smile. "Sure."

"She said yes mom!"

"I thought she might." I hear from the kitchen. She then comes into view. "Which is why I'm making your favorite."

I sit up. "Tacos?"

She laughs and nods. "Tacos."

I spent most of the day with the Montgomerys. It has only been two days but it feels as if nothing has changed. We even did movie night like we used to. It was weird because when we did this as kids we obviously watched kids movies. Today we watched an old black and white classic that I never heard of. Then again I've never been into black and white movies, but Arias taste has changed quite a bit since she moved. When it was done we went up to Mikes room because he invited me to play video games. It wasn't Arias thing, but she came along none the less. Not too long later Uncle Byron comes upstairs to let Aria know that Em was at the door. I was a bit surprised since they lost touch but at the same time I was happy because this meant they could become close again. I was hoping for the best.

"How's Em?" I ask when she walks back into Mikes.

She sits on the bed and smiles. "Not bad."

"Anything interesting?"

She shrugs. "Not really. Just the usual. How were we doing, what's it like to be back. Ya know."

I watch her and I don't know why but it felt like she was hiding something. But I just nod. "Sounds good."

"Jessie!"

I jump and look to the side. "What?"

Mike has a concentrated look on his face. "We are on a team mission you know." I look at Aria, who is trying not to laugh. "This is a serious situation."

He said it without cracking a smile and that made me have to try not to laugh. "Mike chill. It's just a game."

He turns to me. "Just a game?"

I hold in a smile. "Yes. Just a game."

He takes a deep breath. "Then you have been downgraded to no play till you take this seriously." He grabs my remote and looks away.

I smile at Aria. "Whatever you say Mikey." I then get up and follow Aria to her room.

After sitting in her room for a couple hours she called it a night, as I looked dead tired. I agreed and we headed out. She offered to drop me off since I didn't have my car this time. But on the way back to the Hastings we came across flashing lights coming from that block. My heart dropped a bit as I thought of the worse. Turns out it was coming from Alisons old house, which is behind Spencers.

"Can you tell what's going on?" I say as she pulls up behind a parked car.

She shakes her head. "No." Then she gets out.

I sat there for a minute watching the lights, then I followed her lead and got out as well. From my view I could just make out Em and her friend Maya standing in front of the DiLaurentis house. Em had a look on her face that made me pretty concerned.

"I'll be right back." I say as I start to walk away. Then I look back to her and she nods.

Getting closer to the house it felt weird. I had been living by this house for months, and I never bothered to take a look and wonder what happened to her. Because frankly, I could care less. I hate to sound like an ass but what was the point in wondering? I wasn't around when it happened and she wasn't worth my time to worry over. Plus I really had no right to worry on thinking about it even if I wanted to.

"Em!" I yell from behind the barrier.

She turns to me and I see tears glittering from her eyes. She looks at Maya then turns to me and walks over. "Hey." Her voice was low and she sounded like she was about to lose it.

"What's going on?"

She watches me for a minute. "They may have found Ali."

The look on her face had me a bit confused. "That's not good?"

"No..." She hesitates "They found her body."

"Wait. What?"

Now I'm not someone to get emotional about someone I didn't like. So I probably didn't react the way I should have 'cause Em gave me a look like she wanted me to give more than I did. I mean they found her but not in the way I imagined so of course I felt bad. But then I felt bad for not feeling as bad as I probably should have.

She watches me for awhile and the only thing I could think of at this point was to pull her into a hug. "I'm sorry." I say as she wraps her arms around me. "I know how it feels to lose someone."

She holds on to me pretty tight. I could feel and hear her breathing heavy. I didn't know what to do, but I didn't loosen my grip for anything. I wanted her to know I was there for her, like she was for me. I may not have been a fan of Ali but I wasn't about to be a bad friend just because I didn't see eye to eye with one of hers.

"Everything will be okay." I know it's the most used fraise when something horrible happens. I hate when people tell me that. But It was the only thing I could think of to say.

She pulled away and looked at me for awhile. I tried to put a smile, but I couldn't get anything else out before she broke down.


End file.
